God Realization - Not Just Sermonizing

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