Understanding spirituality

 

Life is eternal; we never give a thought to this truth. When someone dies we declare that the person is immortal, but the truth is we ourselves are immortal too. That is why we do not feel that we have grown old. No matter how old a person is, he feels he is never going to die. If someone else dies, we say, ‘oh that poor fellow died’. ‘Everyone else dies but I won’t’, this feeling is there somewhere. There is a stream of awareness within us that cannot be destroyed. To acknowledge and observe that stream is spirituality – 'I have not changed, I have not grown old, I am just the same.'

This brings such courage and strength in life that nothing can shake you. Examining your life, observing it is spirituality, it is ‘satsang’. Satsang is not just singing bhajans but pondering on the truths of life. The most important truth of life – there is an element within me that does not perish, does not diminish and is deathless. If you direct even the slightest attention to it, life becomes easy and uncomplicated. The second truth – everything changes. The body undergoes many changes, as does the mind, so do our thoughts.

Knowing that everything is changing stabilises you. When you are established in this truth, such a smile blossoms from within you that can never fade, cannot be robbed. To sit in an effort to gain this knowledge is satsang. If we change ourselves, we can change our environment, our society and this world.  ‘God knows Gurudev, how many lifetimes it will take for me to gain this awareness’ – do not harbour such thoughts. Now that you have come for satsang, believe that you have already gained it.

Once you are on the train, know that you will reach the destination. That is for sure. How do we make this smile unshakable? How do we make our time on the planet meaningful? Being human we all have certain needs and certain responsibilities. If your needs are more than your responsibilities, there will be unhappiness in life, guaranteed! If your responsibilities are more than your needs, life will be peaceful. What you need to do is reduce your desires and take on more responsibility. And when in our life, personal needs disappear and desires no longer exist; an extraordinary, mystical ability is awakened within us that enables us to bless others.

When we do not want anything for ourselves, we develop the strength to fulfil the desires of others. This is the second step you have to climb. First, become aware of your desires and whatever desires are left. Have the confidence that by God’s grace they will be fulfilled. The next step is, ‘I want nothing.’ When you want nothing, you will become so strong that whatever you say to anyone will become a blessing to them. If you bless anyone, it will manifest.

When we die, only two questions remain: how much love have you shared, and how much knowledge have you gained. One day or the other, we are going to die. But we have to make sure, we all come together and create a divine society till the time we are in this world.

Sacred symbols of the divine

 

Throughout the ages, in all cultures, place, time, people and symbols were considered sacred because the moment you consider something sacred, your inertia disappears, and you become more alive and attentive.

When every action of yours becomes sacred, you become one with the Divine. Whatever our ancestors said, there are profound mysteries hidden behind them. Facts have been explained by them in symbolic form. Let us see a few:

— Lord Shiva, in sitting posture, has a snake around his neck. This implies the state of meditation.

— Earth on Shesh Naag implies centripetal force. There are two kinds of earthly forces, one is centripetal force and the other is centrifugal force. The movement of these forces is not straight but they have a snake-like movement. It represents centripetal force which means ‘not going straight’ and the Earth rotates on its axis and around the sun.

— The fact that Divinity is both male and female was represented as ‘Ardhnareeshwar’. God is not just man, or just woman. Everyone is made up of both male and female genes.

— Saraswati carries a rosary representing meditation; a book representing intellectual knowledge and a musical instrument – veena. This means wisdom dawns only when intellectual knowledge, music and meditation come together. Saraswati sits on a rock, meaning once you have acquired wisdom, it is deeply grounded in you. 

— Goddess Laxmi sits on lotus, meaning wealth is flowing and anything can happen anytime.

— Even the weapons in Gods’ hands have a deeper meaning. God-Goddesses are within us, are our very own. So they show human flaws of anger, jealousy etc. in them as well. Therefore, you don’t feel guilty when such emotions arise in you. The purpose was to bring you closer to God.

‘Rishis’ chose to express Divinity in terms of symbols rather than words. Words change over time, symbols don’t. But eventually you need to transcend and feel that the entire creation, with all its symbols, places, species, people and your whole life, are sacred at all times.

Renunciation a.k.a. the art of letting go

 

When someone blames or praises you, just observe what happens to your breath, what happens deep within you. If someone gives you a compliment, it doesn’t become a part of your breath. But if someone insults you, your breath starts burning and your heart gets filled with anger and remorse. Generally, people get stuck in negativity and unpleasantness, rather than positivity or pleasantness. Of course, when you love somebody, love becomes a very deep part of you.

Suppose you have an ideology you strongly believe in, then that becomes a part of your breath. For example, some people are committed to doing something good for the environment; then day and night they will think about it. Or someone has a particular project in their mind, then that project becomes a part of them. They are fully into it, and it’s OK.

But renunciation is the ability to drop everything and rest. Many people do not succeed in a project, because they become feverish about it. They lack renunciation. Whether you like it or not, every night before going to bed you renounce everything. If you don’t renounce, you won’t be able to sleep. Insomnia is a sign of non-renunciation.

However, renunciation has been wrongly understood. Living in the moment and making the mind free is what renunciation is all about. It does not take away fun from life. You know, people have such wrong ideas. They feel, “I don’t want to be a monk. I just want to enjoy life.” The word renunciation has been distorted to its maximum limit. I tell you, there is nothing scary about renouncing.

You think you have control over your entire life. But let me tell you that you have zero control over yourself. Often, we try to control other people’s life, their thinking, their feelings, the way they should or shouldn’t behave or the way they should live. When one lacks control over oneself, he cannot control anything or anybody.

Renunciation happens only in the present moment. When you are in silence, you are not acting. You are amidst the chaos but inside, you are tranquil and peaceful. You live these opposites simultaneously and this ability is in the seed form in everyone. Only those who renounce can come to God.