Theism as a Possibility, Spirituality as the way of Life

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Published on 24th October’2013 on [email protected]

[GAYATRI_PARIVAR] Digest Number 4385

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Being a student of natural sciences I did not wish to accept the need of spirituality and a level of theism in life very simply yet got in contact with the religious masters and scriptures while trying to understand the related facts to the extent possible at the level of mind and intellect but in an unbiased manner only. I just have not been a person who c’d accept something that seems exceptional in nature and not related to the causes of humanity at all. I do agree also that the theist philosophy, if not the real thing the way it has been explaining itself, must not be thrust on before the masses to maintain order in the system, just by creating fear psychosis on the name of God only. It would be like putting people on a wrong path with no lasting effect and to help develop discriminations within the social system as the high and mighty with no adherence to spiritual or real thinking could live their way and exploit the low and downtrodden perpetually by intoxicating them with the strict conditions having been presented by the religious scripture in different parts of the world.

Accepting atheism requires no energy also as the simple longings which drives one’s life can simply be fulfilled by the efforts than would require the grace of a God compulsorily, hence able people are at least not supposed to follow the statements of a religion for the sake of fear or favor that can be instilled in one’s mind on the name of the God. The basic thing that guides most of us towards religious practices is how we have inherited the traditions for being born in a family or culture. Knowing the overall structure of a society, it has been established that agnostic ideas prevails in general and worshiping the God by the methods employed usually is maintained by most of us for cultural and personal reasons than for selfless interest or for seeking knowledge towards the truth in this direction. Bhagwadgita as the standard text of the religious theory accepted by the followers of the Sanatana dharma simply states that “Among thousands of men one perchance struggles for perfection; even amongst those that struggle, one perchance knows Me in reality” (verse, 7.3). So, if importance of spirituality can be maintained to a level as per the concept arising out of reasoning and for the phenomena that are witnessed as bit obscure than simply natural which might suit more to be considered like the occult science instead of the evident physical sciences, consideration of a super-conscious body for maintenance of all these is not really required yet needed c’d be to ascertain also if the natural sciences can explain these all in totality and that the living beings have evolved over time accidentally as the consequence of continuous interactions of the non-living entities that came into being initially. The chemical processes that might have led to the development of early living beings and thenceforth to the complex multicellular living things including the human beings have already been detailed as part of the evolutionary theories so far knowledge of the natural process is concerned. There are new developments in the field of physical science, as part of quantum theory which tries to help us understand how mass is assigned to a particle ultimately which c’d help develop control on material things to a good extent in future and also in our understanding of the chemical processes working inside the living beings that explains how the different emotions and aspects of intellectual level activities of the human are at work by means of simple biochemical processes only. But do our mind really interpret all the possibilities of the universe, especially can it define the infinity ever and from what sources the material thing might have appeared at all? It is of no great use otherwise to know the smallest of the constituent particles of the matter and becoming able to regulate them to meet our purposes is just advancement of understanding of the subject in the same direction and it poses no serious threat to the knowledge and belief related to existence of a God or that of the soul which has been maintained for thousands of years as yet.

So, as we accept the material things coming from infinite time, s’d the same not be employed to a concept of the soul also, and if scientific methods are there to prove the way how material things c’d be used up to our requirements, don’t we have certain mysteries remaining unsolved while trying to explain them at the level of intellect or natural science only? Taking them as part of the occult science is not enough also till the energy working with them is not determined as well. Can we really date the origin of the smallest possible particle and the source from which that might have appeared firstly in reality, why not relate it to a nature or the Prakriti as part of a superior power that would be causing all these with its consciousness level only. The predictive theories based on astronomical events and the incidences of near death experiences or rebirth which come in news many a times are at least indicative of certain facts existing beyond the obviously realized system and all these need not be sidelined while working on the subject for the sake of knowing the truth at the end. If living beings are combination of particles only and all the emotional behavior, and intellectual understanding or reasoning are due to chemical processes alone as the result of evolution through combinations of the non living particles over time, we are finally the non-living beings like any of the celestial bodies made up of complex molecules which may disintegrate also after some time and lose all its features which w’d be regarded as death of the living being and no more detailing of the process will be required in this direction ever.

We do know that energy is neither created nor destroyed but changes its forms as per understanding of a thermodynamic process and when the infinite universe is part of that process, there will be no net loss or gain in overall content of the material-energy system, similarly there can be space for a parallel idea with which we c’d call something as spiritual or imperishable entity like the soul. If the material thing is not to disappear ever then why s’d a soul or the source of these all s’d come to an end also? Certainly satisfying such an idea w’d require simulating a theory that c’d help us understand how the spiritual and material aspects of life is possibility at a tiime .

Basic to spiritual thinking to be associated with a divine force is that life that is born as the living being and when death is not an end to the life process for it being associated with the soul, it must reach to an another life soon after departure for gradual development of consciousness of the living form towards awakening of the soul in some manner and to move on finally to an enlightened state of the being. Taking these all as the matter of fact for the time being, there can be a meaning to the discussions related to rebirth and all, needed wil be to know what really we are if not merely a body made up of material entities only, what about our emotions and thoughts that lead us feel like a living being and what transmigrates with rebirth also? Provided we are not simply the mortal animal beings, rebirth must be accompanied with memory and consciousness level of the embodied soul, else what really it means by being born again if the soul remains only the source of life that helps the body remain living being yet present no specificity to an individual by itself at all. Going through the scriptures may be revealing in this direction, the Bhagwadgita presents the views that looks worth consideration while dealing with the possibilities, it simply states that "When the soul acquires a body, it takes the senses from the one it leaves like the breeze carries odor from their seats, and attains the new body"(Gita,15.8). And also that "One who at the time of death remembers Me alone and passes out by leaving the body, attains my being, there is no doubt about this. Thinking of whatever object at the time of death a person leaves the body, he/she attains that very object being constantly absorbed in its thought"(Verse, 8.5-6). Thus death presents opportunity for transmigration of a psychic body after getting relived from the physical body towards further revelation of the possible causal body seated within as the source of knowledge and understanding of the living being. The creation itself is nothing but manifestation of the nature of the God as is stated like “Earth, water, fire, ether, intellect, and egoism- thus is My Prakriti(nature) divided into eight categories. This is my Apara or material prakriti, different from this know that the higher or Para prakriti of mine, the soul that binds to the material nature and by which this world is sustained” (Gita, 7.4-5). Taking the creation as the play of the almighty or the Supersoul, it is not the root craving of the causal body of the embodied soul which propitiate with karmic momentum but the psychic or spiritual body that is combination of the Gunas (satwik, rajasic and tamasic) born of the Prakriti or material nature of the allmigty which is layered over the bit causal body and that combination is what we call the embodied soul else the causal body is a portion of the super-soul which is supposed to be realized as the life goal finally. The same is being stated as "For the Purusha residing in Preariti experiences the Gunas born of Prarkiti or nature. The cause of its birth from good and evil sources is its attachment to the Gunas through the senses." "The Supreme Purusha in this body is called the onlooker, the nourisher, the protector, the great Lord, and also the supreme Self"(13.21-22). The exact cause of birth or creation may not be explained at the level of intellect and remains a thing of realization only, one may keep guessing what might have kept this view of life maintained so far in reality. It can better be believed by what Goswami Tulasidas states in Ramacharit Manasa as “Sunahu tata yeh akatha kahani samujhat jai na jai bakhani, ishwar ansha jeeva avinashi chatan amal sahaja sukha rasi”, that each of the living being is a portion of that universal being , the God, that is form of consciousness and joy, it may be realized while being in the sate of stillness of mind yet can not be revealed in words properly. In this way it becomes reasonable to think also that the birth of someone as a human being is the greatest achievement as the jeeva or the soul, and the prerequisite to attain the blissful state at the end, which is regarded as attainment of Nirvana, Moksha etc., the soul itself, being the ultimate source of life, need not be seen as feminine or masculine also yet that appears transiently while being manifest and attached with the psychic body only. There is no net birth or death for the soul and the Gita states it like "It is not indeed that I did not exist at any time , nor you nor these kings, nor that we all shall not exist hereafter"(Gita,2.12). The same is actually being confirmed by the statements like “There are two beings(Purushas) in this world- perishable and imperishable ; the perishable one is all these creatures, and the immutable is called the imperishable” “Different from these is the Supreme being known as the Supreme self (Paramatman), the immutable Lord who having entered the three world (the imaginable universe) and sustains them too”(Gita, 15-17). In this way, just a portion of the unmanifest Supreme Self is present in the manifest form which appears as the dweller of the body in a cyclic manner like what is being clarified as "Beings have the unmanifest as their beginning, are manifest in the middle, and have their dissolution in the unmanifest itself, so why lament for them"(Gita, 2.28), and also that “This embodied self in everyone’s body is eternally indestructible therefore you ought not to grieve for any creature over here”(Gita, 2.30).

The origin of beings is well interpreted as “The great Nature is My womb, in that I place the the germ, and from that, O descendent of Bharata , is the origin of all beings. Whatever forms are born in different wombs, of them the great nature is the womb and I am the seed-giving father. Satwa, Rajas, and Tamas- these three Gunas that are born of Nature(Prakriti), bind fast the immutable, embodied being in the body” (Gita, 14.3-5), in this way while accepting the presence of the embodied soul in different life forms the statement like “But of what avail is it to you to know all these details; I exist pervading this entire universe by a portion of Myself only”(Gita, 10.42) reveals fully well the possible fact in its entirety. Thus, the imbroglio related to spiritual life form can be explained with the presence of a supreme being, the all encompassing Super-soul which sustain and maintains the creation by its means perfectly alright. Thus, abiding by a theist way of life what really a religion is required to ensure finally is fulfillment of natural longings for individuals born here as per his/her requirements by way of maintenance of order in the system and thereby guide the path for the individuals to let them proceed well towards attainment of the life Goals satisfactorily in time, that is why the Dharma(rational activities of life), Artha(economic wellness or availability of space to work well as per disposition of the mind), Kama(fulfillment of ordinary longings), to be followed by Moksha ( the blissful state of the beings at the end) is required to become part of everyone’s life over here.

What we notice as the common features with regard to attitude of the human being is negativity or positivity of mind, negativities are solely represented by the Tamas while positivity of mind is associated with Satwa in terms of usual spiritual thinking. These two features are pretty well defined in the scriptures, while positivity helps oneself and the system flourish well, negative thinking not only destroys possibilities associated with the self but used to harm the surrounding system as well. The binding truth of life as the source of light comes towards each of us in the form of knowledge and belief well supported by means of the structure of the system we inhabit, the basic negative character that really can stop us from removing the cloud of darkness surrounding the understanding or layers of ignorance over the consciousness is when we feel happy by remaining oblivious of the reality and remain attached to the worthless ideas and keep trying to enjoy things irrationally by putting others at loss also. This is what we call as possession of demoniac wealth in life and that who is born with such features w’d go further downward mostly, there will be no scope left with someone who has reached the lowest level in life and an upward journey w’d begin afresh via lower birth only. Bhagwadgita states very clearly in this respect that ‘Obtaining demoniac bodies and remaining deluded birth after birth, far from attaining Me , O son of kunti, they fall into still lower conditions”, thus precondition to enjoy betterment ever is to prepare the self for positive changes only when assimilation of the light passing by around would become possible with which others could be supported as well to come out of the veil of perpetual bondages and feel free from the unwanted restlessness of life. The statements like ‘One who has conquered the self (body and senses and mind), the self is his/her friend; for the uncontrolled one, however the self alone is averse like the enemy”(Verse, 6.6) and that “The harmonized one well relived from the fruit of action , attains the highest peace; the one non-harmonized one, working under the influence of desires, is attained to the unwanted fruits and gets bound”(Verse,5.12), reveal the fact that even though one is made to face the results , good or bad in accordance with his/her deeds only, scope to grow further upward or in the retrospective direction depends on how well the person tries to perform while leading an independent life within power, blaming others for the failure is futile in the absence of proper endeavors at one’s part may be restricting the growth process towards perfection and peace in life. Joy is supposed to be the basic characteristic of the inner self and that can be realized with efforts when we experience silence with regard to rest other tendencies that are guided at the level of mind, intellect and egoism. Religion actually teaches us a way of life with which one may be feeling relieved of those external cravings that deserve no much attachment, living in this manner is revealed in the form of calmness of attitude in the life, may it lead towards stillness of the mind also. Can we feel free from all our responsibilities and try to practice silence or tame all the external noises that w’d come ordinarily in one’s life, the statement like "That person of controlled self moves amidst sense-objects with the senses governed by the self and free from attachment and aversion- he attains serenity"(verse, 2.64), is worth implementation in life. What is like moving amidst sense-objects needs to be understood well, it is not merely the senses which guide our material requirements that s'd be satisfied as per the requirements borne out of the nature, but that psychic tendencies that provide with the sense of responsibilities in life, which may be a combination of mind, intellect and egoism inherent in the nature needs to be perfected as well by means of deeds as per requirements of disposition of the mind. What the requirements can there be for someone in this manner legitimately needs to be perfected only to feel joy in life, each of us is really born with a central job to be done in life and capabilities to do the same properly and so we can keep calm and alert while remaining engaged with activities and feel the joy while performing action properly in life. As has been mentioned in Srimad Bhagawatam "Mriturbuddhimatapohyo yavadbuddhivlodayam, yaddhaso na nivartate naparadhoasti dehinah" the conscious mind must try to keep away the possible death as far as possible till it can be supported by the intellect and capabilities, if the efforts fails to bring the result no sin is incurred to the person concerned. It is what we need to consider for whatever we do in life, the fact being revealed is that one s'd attempt his/her level best in a direction exploiting all the resources available to him/her at some point in time and leave no stone unturned if the job is well determined also. It w’d to be to follow the statement "To work alone you have the right, but never claim its result. Let not the results of actions be your motive, nor be detached to reasonable action"(Gita,2.47), Karma yoga perfected in this manner can lead one towards success in life and so the aying ‘In this there is no waste of an undertaking nor chance of incurring sin; even the least bit of this religion saves one from the misery without fail”(Gita, 2.40). Till someone is doing everything well within the reach and do that properly, room for joy will be maintained very well. Considering the verse like "For the uncontrolled person, there is no knowledge, nor is there meditation or concentration of the mind; and for the unmeditative person there is no peace, and for one bereft of peace how can there be happiness or joy"(Bhageadgita,2.66), required w’d be to get relived from the unwanted attachments that might be leaving the mind engaged in fulfilling no real purposes and keeping us far from the state of perfection in life. The statements like “Men of selfless action remaining un attached perform action through the body, mind, intellect as also the mere senses, for purification of the mind”(Gita,5.11) and “With the activities of the mind and the senses controlled, concentrating the mind, one should practice Yoga for the purification of the self”(Gita, 6.12) is revealing the need for the way of life well supported by the philosophy of religion to help serve the purposes of life in totality. Bhagwadgita, in particular emohasizes on the need of Karma Yoga in life as one’s Dharma like “One who is devoted to action and pure in mind, whose body and senses are controlled, and whose Self is realized as the self of all, is not touched even when the person may be performing works” (Gita,5.7), one is born with no obligation but to do what is possible only. Let us treat nothing wrongly but perform well as pr requirement of the time and place and live in the present perfectly and joy will be realized always in life.

Once we prepare ourselves to have faith in the super natural entities or the soul, rest will follow as the natural possibilities and consequences of the circumstances that might have directed the developments at times. Religions of the world w’d have emerged over time in this manner successfully and the commonality of all the religions needs to be concluded now and our society will be allowed to develop in accordance with the needs of the contemporary time. Prerequisite to our understanding of the philosophy of religion is to help it become practicable and fulfilling to the requirements of the human being towards a prosperous society which c’d maintain order in the process towards a sustainable system with time. What we call as spirituality is common to all the religions and that must not fail to recognize humanity as the priority to help us become intellectual enough to feel relieved from the worthless bondages of life here towards attainment of the goals of life successfully. A revival of the same is desperately needed in the modern era when we are living as the member of a global village nowadays, required is to support the causes of each other towards the benefit of the system as a whole. Let us feel free from the prejudices thought to be associated with race and religion and prepare to control growth of population and its distribution throughout the world to attain equilibrium in the system with time. Till spiritual values are not maintained as it s’d be and religious ideas do not fulfill legitimate purposes of the mankind on its part, loss of order in the system will remain a matter of concern as usual and theism as the true possibility or spirituality as the way of Life will remain questionable only.

The inquisitive mind well informed about the possible and simple practices of yoga and meditation and willingly to come to a conclusion in this direction can follow a path of knowledge or devotional service towards realization of the absolute under guidance of a master as per his/her requirements in this direction and judge oneself if the recommendation having been made by the spiritual leaders everywhere in this world are worth acceptance as the ingredient for further awakening of the consciousness and if continuation on that path w’d really help him/her develop knowledge and belief and realize peace or blissfulness ever in reality. Claims having been made from the outside agencies need not become the guiding principle for someone till the conscience allows for accepting the same as well, there are provisions for the rule of law that forces none to adopt the path of theism nor it asks someone quit such a belief and that needs to be perpetuated than be discarded with a level of prejudice or under the influence of the most ordinary longings only. Till we do not exploit all the available resources towards turning into an atheist or theist, the declaration w’d be taken as less than perfect only, else we w’d get the same conclusion with regard to the philosophy of religion after having put up enough energy to go through the practices, may that become a generalization with time. These opinions may have been considered in the course of time and no appropriate conclusion will ever come out at the level of mere intellect only as it rests for the right person to go through certain practices to embark on the path of truth successfully in life.