Know the journey and destination!

Spirituality is like ascending a hill and to reach the hill top! It is not necessary that everyone should take the same path. We are aware that the base of any hill has many points from which one can start ascending. Our ancestors have treaded the path of spirituality and some of them even reached the summit. Some ways are tedious and circuitous. Some point takes you to some vertical cliff and is not easy to negotiate. Certain points have got the path marked due to the passage of several people on the path. It would be advisable; to choose such paths. But who will show you the starting point and guide you slowly along it? It is the preceptor who has already travelled through the path and knows the various bends and turnings! Otherwise, if we choose our own point, there is every possibility that we may be lost in the wilderness and may not reach safely the top!

Even in this mundane world, when we travel to unknown territories, we consult various printed guides or surf the net for information! After reaching the station, we can engage any local guide who is familiar with the geography, territory and know the important places. A reliable guide will take us safely through any unknown territory. Hence in spiritual path, a guru is most essential. What if our search for a genuine guru fails? We can pray sincerely for inner guidance from the self. The self will either enable meeting with a genuine guru or the self will guide us safely, if we rely upon the self with full faith! When the mind is sufficiently silent, the voice of god will be heard! Yes, it depends on inner silence of the mind. Silencing the mind is a tedious affair. One cannot force the mind into silence. The mind is compared to a monkey that too an intoxicated one. We have observed monkeys and their activities. A monkey rarely sits calmly at a place for some time. It will be hopping from one branch to other continuously! How the keepers of the monkeys engage it? We have seen that the keepers exhibit the chained monkeys on the road side. The keeper will have a small stick and he will direct the monkey to jump over it! Like that he will keep the monkey engaged for a considerable period. He will collect money from the people who watch this monkey show! The only way, the mind could be brought under our control is to keep it engaged! The sages and saints have found out ways of controlling the wayward mind. They ask the people to chant the names of god incessantly to divert the monkey mind. Over a time, the mind will get interest in repeating the names of god, though in the initial stages, it will resist such activity vehemently. The mind always seeks comforts, rests and pleasure. When some discipline is enforced, it revolts. But if one wants to achieve the aim of human life, he must bring the mind under control by chanting, singing the names of god, reading spiritual literature, conversing with like minded people and avoiding worldly attractions. All the spiritual texts exhort us to follow the above disciplines.

This is not our first sojourn on this earth in human body! One may not believe it but each of us have undergone millions of births in this sorrowful world, yet we seek sensual pleasures and comforts during each birth. Hence sages and saints come among human beings to guide them towards the royal path of spirituality! What Jesus has done during his short life on earth! He was conversing holy truths among his audience and followers. Always, there will be some talks or discourses on spiritual truths, Kingdom of God and the ways to achieve the above! To instill courage and confidence among his followers, he cured many blind persons, he made the dumb to speak and he cured the handicapped. When someone approaches him for their problems, he will ask them, “Whether they have faith in him? When they affirm their faith, he may touch them or look at them or pronounce ‘you are cured’! Many of them were benefited due to the implicit faith in his words. They gathered around him wherever Jesus went! To them, he preached divine wisdom and truths enshrined in ancient scriptures. He used to talk in parables. Those who are blessed have understood his words of wisdom and followed him. When two fishermen were working on their net, he simply called them and said, ‘so long you are catching fishes, now I will teach you to catch people; if you believe me, follow me!”.The brothers were fortunate to get faith in his words of call, and simply followed him without much ado! He raised Lazarus from death bed! These incidents were enough to create interest in Jesus! He had the authority since he had faith in the Father in Heaven! In spite of torture and crucifixion, Jesus never raised his voice or become angry at the perpetrators of most heinous guilt. Of course, the King has distanced himself from the judgment by washing his hand with water! It was the people who fell to the conspiracy of priests who asked for the crucifixion of Jesus for no sin of him! The King had to obey the majority voice but he knew in his heart that Jesus was most innocent of the charges that were framed!

All the above incidents clearly prove that Faith is the hallmark of spirituality. If you repose faith on your preceptor, he is sure to take you by his wise guidance until the end. Faith is like the mountain! Hence, the grand aim of our life on earth is Self-realization or to realize our innate identity with God! Everyone is God! This is not blasphemy! The same soul is the indweller of all bodies! The indweller is none but the Self which is not different from the Omni Self or Brahman! Hence all those who are interested in their real welfare must tread spiritual path at some point of their life and try to reach the Kingdom of God with the guidance of a real guru. The world is in this pitiable condition since people follow stark materialism and believe that their bodies are real selves. Our bodies will be consigned to fire or earth or water one day. We are not aware! Look at the devastating floods caused everywhere by cyclonic storms. Every day, we are hearing about the tragic disasters through media in each part of the globe! We are all mortals who will perish at any time under any circumstances! Hence leave the false pride and ego! Relinquish the greed to accumulate! Not a particle of sand will accompany us in the last journey. Body will be buried or cremated and everything will mingle with the basic elements? Why bother about wealth and property when you cannot dream of taking them with you? Be a true human and develop human values of Truth, Righteousness, Peace, love and Non-violence! If everyone follows spiritual ethos, the world will become a paradise to live with peace and harmony everywhere!