shreeradhaWell, you might wonder, “Why do we need spiritual guide or teacher or guru to establish contact with God or to seek divine happiness? And who could be such guru?†Our discussion will now be focused on this new topic – Saint or Seer or Sage or Guide or Teacher or Guru or Master or anything else you want to name it.
shreeradhaIf you boast of scientific progress, please bear in mind that whatever progress mankind has achieved through science, has potential to destroy entire mankind itself ! The use of highly devastating atomic arsenals is, after all, governed by human beings or thinking of the persons who have control over such arsenals. Thinking, therefore, if not controlled well, can spell mass destruction of this living planet. Again, how far has this scientific progress assisted in reducing internal tensions, in getting internal satisfaction, in having peaceful life? The truth is, persons who are more exposed to industrial revolution work under more psychological pressure which is one of the unwelcome feelings! Are you gaining or loosing?
shreeradhaAnother way to counter materialistic ego is to realize your exact status in this cosmic system. Where do you stand in the cosmic system which is so gigantic? What is your position in the entire universe which is comprised of huge stars and planets, located at distances which ordinary person, like you and me, can never think of? Where does the solar system stand in the cosmic society? Then the earth? Then your nation, your state, your district, your city, your house and ultimately you? Not even a point on the map of entire universe.
shreeradhaAnother major obstacle in seeking divine happiness is ego. Ego too, is one of the fantastic creation of mind itself, which is pampered through out in your pursuit of happiness. Ego tries to develop feeling of self importance. Many times ego defies all sorts of logic just out of fear of loosing importance and deprives you of having the pleasant experience which you could have had otherwise. Any spiritual aspirant, even materialistic person for that matter, has to control his egoistic whims through excellent reasoning. As you will discover if ego projects itself directly in opposition to life, knowledge, power etc., it usually gets defeated.
shreeradhaBy now it should be crystal clear that the feelings related to happiness, sorrow, grief etc. are entirely the creation of mind itself and mind plays pivotal role in controlling your outward visible actions. In fact, any physical action is possible only if the decision to that effect is taken by intellect and then passed on to mind for taking necessary action. It attests to one more important principle of Indian philosophy which states, “Mind is the sole cause of liberating or unleashing the flow of eternal, infinite, divine happiness and of bondage through short-lived, rubbish, ravenous material happiness which always culminates into sufferings, miseries and puts soul into unending, soul-searing cycle of birth and death.â€
shreeradhaTo start with, any spiritual aspirant must adopt following steps.
1. You must contemplate regularly and again and again on basic objective of each and every living organism, which is nothing but to seek its own happiness. Therefore, stop thinking that someone from mayic arena can be your well-wisher or can be your friend. Repetitive contemplation is necessary because you, in the absence of adequate defense, would find it difficult to cope up with material attractions.
2. You need to understand that whatever happiness you receive from material objects and persons is short-lived, evanescent and will never make you happy forever and therefore, there is no point in accumulating more and more of any of material objects.
shreeradhaIt seems to be very easy to reach much coveted stage of detached or neutral behavior. In contrast, if you recognize that everyone has infinite history of his own and that everyone is trying to seek the same happiness and that such happiness is not attainable till one acquires art of detached behavior, you will admit it must be extremely difficult to become neutral.
shreeradhaThe detachment, then, is feeling lack of liking and hatred in this world for any object or any person. Persons and objects will still be there. You will be neutral to them. If they exist or not, it doesn’t bother you at all, for you have no interest in them since you have realized that happiness has never been in any object or person however beautiful, enchanting, entertaining it seems to be. It was there in your own thinking that such objects or persons brought you happiness. If this decision is firm, hatred vanishes automatically, for you don’t foresee any threat to incoming happiness since you know that it is not there in the first place.
Following are some examples of detached activities.
shreeradhaLet us assume that there is couple. Both of them are governed by rajas mood. Wife’s rajas mood is much stronger than her husband’s. Wife proposes a concert visit and husband promptly agrees to it. Both of them leave house. While going to concert, they come across a book stall. Since there is enough time to go to concert, they get into book stall to see the range of books available. They come across a book on God realization. Husband picks it up and scrolls trough it. His rajas mood, which was not strong enough, gets subdued as a result of divine atmosphere provided by book. Wife is getting restless, for they might miss the concert if her husband continued reading the book in which she has no interest at all . Husband’s mood gets totally changed.
