Swami Brahmdev
Every one of us needs to reflect on life. Not just follow the crowd. How could we reflect constructively to lead a full life? Look at the process of evolution; humans evolved from animals. The frame and form was changed and the capacity to think was given. Basic instincts remain the same. But because of the capacity to think, man formed relationships and gave them names … ‘this is my maternal uncle, my grandfather’ and so on. A social network was formed. This is the stage when man became a social animal, as he is called.
As the years roll past, an individual tends to get bored with all the social dimensions he has created. He decides to invoke God. He goes to pandits and maulvis and others who profess to live a religious life. He visits places of worship. He gets caught in rituals and the various dos and don’ts, many of which he may not understand. Some people get exploited due to their ignorance. And now he becomes what i call, the religious animal.
Look at the way the churning takes place. The religious animal looks at the social animal with a certain disdain … he feels superior. The social animal looks at the religious animal and thinks he has lost his marbles. So they both do not look at each other in a balanced way.
They both get into the game of convincing themselves that they are living well. The social animal says ‘I have achieved everything, made money, built houses, have a family’. The religious animal says something to the effect, ‘All that is fine, but you have not found God’. The beginnings of a clash can be seen.
The religious animals have each donned different kinds of clothes that define their religion. And along with it came the feeling that ‘I am the best, I know it all’. In a sense, with that, this cycle was also drawing to a close.
The social animal had lived its full, the religious animal had lived its full and now the final touch had to be given to evolution. In the words of Aurobindo, “The changes we see in the world today are intellectual, moral and physical in their ideal and intention: the spiritual revolution waits for its hour … it is nature power, events are those that will determine the next cycle of our humanity.”
If man has to be liberated now, he has to be liberated from religion. Religion is very different from spirituality. Spirituality comes from within. Religion is an external framework. Our move has to be from religion to spirituality. The idea of religion is to make man spiritual. We have to actualise that.
How to bring about that liberation? How to transform oneself? The power of your intentions create you, your environment, your life. To change myself i have to change my intentions. So always check your intentions.
And what should our intentions be? Our aspiration is to live in perfection. That should be our intention, too. We always want to become a better person. So pursue those intentions that make you a better person. Those which do not make you a better person, throw them out, avoid them, forget them. Better person is one who has no duality, no confusion, one who lives in harmony, balance and peace. Live in your fullness. Live like yourself, in completeness.
DISCLAIMER
The views expressed in the Article above are Author’s personal views and kashmiribhatta.in is not in any way responsible for the opinions expressed in the above article. The article belongs to its respective owner or owners and this site does not claim any right over it. Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing."
Courtesy: Times of India: The Speaking Tree: April 29 ,2019
Swami Brahmdev
Every one of us needs to reflect on life. Not just follow the crowd. How could we reflect constructively to lead a full life? Look at the process of evolution; humans evolved from animals. The frame and form was changed and the capacity to think was given. Basic instincts remain the same. But because of the capacity to think, man formed relationships and gave them names … ‘this is my maternal uncle, my grandfather’ and so on. A social network was formed. This is the stage when man became a social animal, as he is called.
As the years roll past, an individual tends to get bored with all the social dimensions he has created. He decides to invoke God. He goes to pandits and maulvis and others who profess to live a religious life. He visits places of worship. He gets caught in rituals and the various dos and don’ts, many of which he may not understand. Some people get exploited due to their ignorance. And now he becomes what i call, the religious animal.
Look at the way the churning takes place. The religious animal looks at the social animal with a certain disdain … he feels superior. The social animal looks at the religious animal and thinks he has lost his marbles. So they both do not look at each other in a balanced way.
They both get into the game of convincing themselves that they are living well. The social animal says ‘I have achieved everything, made money, built houses, have a family’. The religious animal says something to the effect, ‘All that is fine, but you have not found God’. The beginnings of a clash can be seen.
The religious animals have each donned different kinds of clothes that define their religion. And along with it came the feeling that ‘I am the best, I know it all’. In a sense, with that, this cycle was also drawing to a close.
The social animal had lived its full, the religious animal had lived its full and now the final touch had to be given to evolution. In the words of Aurobindo, “The changes we see in the world today are intellectual, moral and physical in their ideal and intention: the spiritual revolution waits for its hour … it is nature power, events are those that will determine the next cycle of our humanity.”
If man has to be liberated now, he has to be liberated from religion. Religion is very different from spirituality. Spirituality comes from within. Religion is an external framework. Our move has to be from religion to spirituality. The idea of religion is to make man spiritual. We have to actualise that.
How to bring about that liberation? How to transform oneself? The power of your intentions create you, your environment, your life. To change myself i have to change my intentions. So always check your intentions.
And what should our intentions be? Our aspiration is to live in perfection. That should be our intention, too. We always want to become a better person. So pursue those intentions that make you a better person. Those which do not make you a better person, throw them out, avoid them, forget them. Better person is one who has no duality, no confusion, one who lives in harmony, balance and peace. Live in your fullness. Live like yourself, in completeness.
DISCLAIMER
The views expressed in the Article above are Author’s personal views and kashmiribhatta.in is not in any way responsible for the opinions expressed in the above article. The article belongs to its respective owner or owners and this site does not claim any right over it. Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing."
Courtesy: Times of India: The Speaking Tree: April 29 ,2019