God Realization - Not Just Sermonizing
"Human being is fundamentally and essentially divine in nature. However, the divinity in man is shrouded and veiled by the endless chain of thoughts and desires. It is only on knowing and realizing the indwelling spirit in practical sense that our compulsive habit of identifying ourselves with gross body, mind and intellect ceases. Theory followed by practical experience truly confirms, affirms and solidifies the abstract truth that is sought to be instructed. Simply knowing that the supreme spirit dwells in all beings as Soul is not sufficient. It is the vision in practical sense which would arouse unflinching faith. We, thus, need someone who can give the abstract metaphysical truth a visible reality. "- Sushil Kumar Vasudeva
God Realization - Not Just Sermonizing
By Sushil Kumar Vasudeva
Satiation of carnal desires (or seeking sense-pleasure) is not the
aim of human life. Human beings have a much higher and nobler goal to
achieve. Lasting peace, equanimity and equipoise of mind can never
come from worldly attainments. Happiness obtained from worldly
accomplishments is transient and hence does not last long. On the
contrary, they become a cause of worries and sorrows at some stage in
life. Paradoxically, even amidst prosperity, pelf and plenty, many
people feel an agonizing sense of inner impoverishment, which, they
admit makes them feel ill at ease. The aspiration for self-
fulfillment becomes evident from their search for the nectar of life.
True happiness lies in spirituality, if taught by a preceptor and
learnt by a seeker as a science of experience of the inner world.
This is also what is commonly called God Realization.
Mere oral sermonizing is not realization by any stretch of the
imagination. Realization is the instant and spontaneous supra-mental
experience of inherent divinity; a perfect sage is capable of and
helpful in conferring such Realization. It is upon this super-sensory
experience that our quest of peace, happiness and perfection can be
put to rest.
However, mere theory is not capable of producing the desired results.
Theory sans practical experience of divinity inherent in man is like
padding the mind with prolific descriptions of Soul and Super Soul -
only to eventually be confronted with natural questions like: Where
is God? How I can see Him? This is amplified in the Bhagavad Gita,
The Song Celestial. It is primarily a story of Sri Krishna, the Lord
in human embodiment, and Arjuna, the disciple. The dialogue between
them is spread over 18 chapters.
From chapter one to 10 of the Gita, Lord Krishna replied to a
plethora of questions from Arjuna. This constituted verbal education.
This, however, did not quiet the agitated, confused and wavering mind
of Arjuna. Replies generated further questions. Though the answering
authority was Lord Himself, verbal knowledge could not satisfy,
convince and pacify the flustered mind of Arjuna. Arjuna identified
Krishna as merely a physical body. All exhortations and teachings of
Lord did not yield any lasting effect. This was in reality a divine
sport of the Lord in human embodiment. He wanted to show to mankind
that attainment of God is beyond verbal knowledge. Lord thus showed
to posterity the limited value of theory and mere sermonizing.
The Saint Ramakrishna Paramahamsa has re-affirmed the eternal verity
of this fact. He says," What will a man gain by merely reasoning
about the words of the scriptures? Ah, the fools! They reason
themselves to death over information about the path. They never take
the plunge. What a pity!"
Eventually Lord blessed Arjuna with the divine eye and showed him His
cosmic form - the transcendental reality. Arjuna exclaimed on
initiation," If hundreds of thousands of suns rose up at once into
the sky, they might resemble the effulgence of the Supreme Lord in
that universal form" (Gita, Chapter 11, Verse 12). Physical eyes can
just see the outward form. The inner soul can be practically
perceived by the eye of spirit.
The celestial vision is not a mental construction but the revelation
of the metaphysical truth that is beyond the finite mind and
intellect. On seeing the elemental and metaphysical form of God
through the divine eye, our horizon widens and we move beyond the
earthly tumults and sorrows that engross us so easily. An anecdote
from the Vedic texts expounds on this factual notion.
Once Narada went to a sage named Sanat Kumara to learn about truth,
and Sanat Kumara inquired what he had studied already. Narada replied
that he had studied the Vedas, Astronomy, Philosophy and various
other secular subjects; yet there was no end to his desires and
cravings and hence no peace of mind and satisfaction. This response
was followed by a conversation between the two, in the course of
which Sanat Kumara remarked that all his knowledge of the Vedas, of
Astronomy and of Philosophy was but secondary; sciences are but
secondary. That which makes us realize the Brahman (Lord of the
Universe) was the supreme, the highest knowledge. Knowledge of
science covers only part of our lives, but the knowledge which
religion brings to us is eternal, as infinite as the truth it
preaches.
Expounding further, Sanat Kumara told Narada that memorizing the
Vedas is not sufficient. Though the Vedas prolifically eulogize
divine knowledge, the sovereign science and the supreme secret that
this knowledge is, finds only theoretical narration in the sacred
literature. God expects the seeker of truth to go beyond theoretical
description and mere sermonizing. Lord ordained this supreme secret
to be revealed to the aspirant at the time of initiation by a true
preceptor. Sermonizing that human beings are essentially divine is
eclipsed by a practical manifestation by a perfect sage. In the end,
Sage Sanat Kumara initiated Narada into eternal knowledge and in the
process Narada was put through cosmic experience of divinity. It is
only after meditating on the divine light of consciousness that
Narada attained perfect peace, happiness and equanimity of mind. He
obtained the stature of a perfect sage, i.e. the one whose individual
consciousness is one with the universal consciousness.
Human being is fundamentally and essentially divine in nature.
However, the divinity in man is shrouded and veiled by the endless
chain of thoughts and desires. It is only on knowing and realizing
the indwelling spirit in practical sense that our compulsive habit of
identifying ourselves with gross body, mind and intellect ceases.
Theory followed by practical experience truly confirms, affirms and
solidifies the abstract truth that is sought to be instructed. Simply
knowing that the supreme spirit dwells in all beings as Soul is not
sufficient. It is the vision in practical sense which would arouse
unflinching faith. We, thus, need someone who can give the abstract
metaphysical truth a visible reality.
We need some outside help for this. This outside help comes from
perfect spiritual master of the time who has himself known and seen
the metaphysical form of God by unraveling the profoundest mystery.
While the outside physical world of objects is the domain of the
physical sciences, the field of study of religion and spirituality is
the inner world. Our inner realm is beyond comprehension of sense
organs, gross body, subtle mind and intellect.
The ground on which a physical science claims superiority over other
streams of secular knowledge is that its theories are based on and
verifiable through laboratory tests. A student of chemistry cannot
master his field of study without experimenting and verifying in the
lab the theoretical narration of chemical equations. The spirituality
contained in the holy treatises is not merely the delight and ecstasy
of academicians and philosophers. The domain of holy texts is the
metaphysical world of ultimate reality.
Head and Founder of Divya Jyoti Jagrati Sansthan, the Divine Light
Awakening Mission, Sri Ashutosh Ji Maharaj professes," No fleshly eye
can see the sovereign form of God. Human eye is not made for
effulgent light of the Lord. Divine eye is the angelic eye, while the
two visible eyes are the eyes of the flesh. The soul, the inner of
the inmost, is perceived by the eye of spirit. The disclosure of this
truth is beyond the finite mind. The spontaneity is the hallmark of a
genuine preceptor.”
Upon manifestation of our innate divinity, we learn to go beyond
regarding the Supreme merely as a transcendent mystery and see Him as
close to us; as close as a father is to a son, as a friend to a
friend or as a lover to the beloved. These human relations find in
God their fullest realization. God as father is a familiar conception
in most of the religions. The Old Testament uses the image of the
Father when it declares," like as a father pitieth his children, so
the Lord pitieth them that fear him.” The idea of God as Father is
the central conception of the teaching of Jesus.
Clarifying further, Sri AshutoshJi Maharaj declares," Until one sees
the cosmic vision within, one will not comprehend the true essence of
the cosmic process and destiny. The vision is the revelation of the
inherent divinity in man. This supersensuous experience is instant
and spontaneous in every aspirant at the time of initiation. It
happened not only in the remote past, it is possible even today;
provided one has the urge in his heart.”
It is, thus, on opening of the eye of spirit that your journey into
the inner space of the ultimate reality begins. This is the eternal
way of meditation. As you go along and grow on this path, you begin
to get closer to the cosmic consciousness and peace, happiness and
perfection are natural concomitants. One then leads a life of self-
fulfillment and performs worldly duties as a service to God.
Consecration of all actions at the lotus feet of the Lord becomes
second nature. Agitations of mind wither away and all doubts,
negativities are cut asunder.
God Realization -Not Just Sermonizing
By Sushil Kumar Vasudeva
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