What has been said in the previous Post leads us to the interconnection between self-control and meditation. As they are intimately related, one might be afraid of falling into a vicious circle since the one presupposes the other. When we start practicing self-control as well as meditation , the dichotomy between the two gradually disappears and we do not expect that everything should be perfect at the beginning itself. Jesus advised his disciples to pray in secret to the heavenly Father after shutting oneself off from all distractions. Going into one's room and shutting the doors for privacy indicates the necessity of sense-control to pray in private to the Father that is nothing other than meditation. Sense-control (Pratyahara) is withdrawal of senses from objects that distracts us. In Indian Thought, 'Indriya Pratyahara' is the withdrawal of the senses to such an extent that senses appear to be one with the mind. This is proposed by none other than the master of 'Yoga Sutras', Patanjali, who says that the senses in this state appear to be one with the mind. The senses, so to say, have been identified with the mind itself and they do not appear to be outside the mind. Here it is clear that such a condition is most suitable for meditation (Dhyana). Meditation is nothing but the total movement of our self to the object of meditation. The purpose of this movement of our whole self is to unite ourselves with the object of meditation.
The Bhagavad-Gita offers a tip for meditation that severs oneself from all those factors chaining us to the attractions of the senses. It is called "Dukha-Samyoga-Viyoga". In other words, it is a separation of ourselves from contact with the causes of pain.What we mistakenly consider as the source of our happiness by attaching ourselves to the various objects in the world are in reality sources of our bondage. As long as we are in bondage, it is impossible to be really happy. We are not aware of this situation because of 'Maya' or illusion we are in due to 'avidya' or ignorance. We are, in the first place, unaware of our true nature and are, therefore, misled into believing that we shall be happy if such and such an object is obtained. On fulfilling our desire for a particular object, another desire raises its ugly head again misleading us in the name of happiness. This process goes on indefinitely and that shows that we are not going to be satisfied and be happy unless we attain infinity itself. The infinite depth in our nature that is the source of our happiness is covered or veiled by the seeming attractions we are entrapped in by running after the particular objects in the world. The real source of our happiness that is Infinity itself is clamoring for recognition without acknowledging which we shall not be at peace with ourselves and real happiness shall elude us. How should we go about in ordinary everyday life for enjoying real happiness and peace of mind? The starting point for this venture is our self-awareness from which all our thinking and actions proceed. Spirituality is nothing but a heightened self-awareness culminating in a genuine God-consciousness, resulting in the external manifestations of the internal riches. Such a person is rich before God irrespective of whether he or she is rich or poor in the world. They are the poor in spirit for whom is the Kingdom of God established. Thus the importance of meditation is evident from the exigencies of the nature of reality and of our own nature. This kind of meditation is not a mere pious activity as it is bound to reveal to us the nature of reality and our place in the entire Universe. We shall treat briefly the content of spirituality in this Post with regard to 'Self-awareness' and 'God-consciousness', whereas the next Post will discuss that regarding 'External Expressions'.
By 'self-awareness' we mean more than a mere knowledge of who we are. It involves a certain right attitude to life reflecting our perception of who we are. It is necessarily reflected in our actions and attitudes in real life. For example, people with an unacceptable level of Ego try to browbeat even public officials if things do not turn out according to their plans. They start invoking the names of highly placed officials in support of their demands. Very often such people start with a question: 'Do you know who I am?' In this connection an interesting story of a quarreling businessman at an airport where the question 'do you know who I am?' was thrown at a counter clerk may be entertaining and enlightening. Immediately an officer announced on the public address system saying: "Your attention please. Here is a gentleman who does not know who he is and can anyone help him?" This is an extreme example of a too self-conscious person that is diametrically opposed to genuine self-awareness. As an example of a person with genuine self-awareness, we may cite here the case of the ex-president of India Dr. Abdul Kalaam. On a trip to U. S. A., the VVIP was subjected to a regular check including frisking and removal of shoes at the foot of the aerobridge of the international airlines by security guards. Dr. Kalaam meekly submitted himself to the procedure, although as per rules followed in India he was exempt from the same. He never complained to anyone and kept his cool even when the entire Nation in and outside the Indian Parliament made a hue and cry over the perceived ignominy heaped upon our national icon. A genuine personality with the right kind of self-awareness is not bothered about what happens to him or her as such a person is totally content internally and the inherent self-esteem is never corroded. Such a person is present to reality as it is by his or her own personality bereft of any desire to show off oneself before others. All others are imprisoned in their own psychological prisons where they are condemned to languish in utter misery.
The problem of God-Consciousness may be expressed thus: How is that we are able to have consciousness of God when our whole life is attuned to the demands and exigencies of the material world? Is it that we should set apart a portion of our daily life for spiritual exercises whereby we become aware of God? Over and above such spiritual practices, our entire life should be under the influence of the Spirit in our daily routines. Thus we may say that a wise person is awake to the Reality and a foolish one is governed by appearances. Further, a genuine sense of God-Consciousness is the underlying reality why a person is wise. This is in consonance with the biblical dictum: "The essence of wisdom is the fear of the Lord" (Ecclesiasticus, 1: 14). The parable in the New Testament of the 5 wise virgins and five foolish ones who went out to receive the bridegroom portray how the wise ones were awake to the reality , while the foolish ones were governed by appearances. God-Consciousness is something that always underlies every move a wise person makes. It is like the undercurrent of a river and influences the conduct and behavior of a wise person. This being the case, we may say that a wise person always prays without ceasing even when he or she is engaged with the the exigencies arising out of living in this world. The reason for this fact is that such a person is always in touch with the source of all that is in existence. Since God is the source and root of existence , Whose Essence is Existence itself, a wise person is full of God-Consciousness. A foolish person, on the contrary, is full of his or her own Ego that determines and governs everything where God does not enter into. (To be Cont'd).
The Bhagavad-Gita offers a tip for meditation that severs oneself from all those factors chaining us to the attractions of the senses. It is called "Dukha-Samyoga-Viyoga". In other words, it is a separation of ourselves from contact with the causes of pain.What we mistakenly consider as the source of our happiness by attaching ourselves to the various objects in the world are in reality sources of our bondage. As long as we are in bondage, it is impossible to be really happy. We are not aware of this situation because of 'Maya' or illusion we are in due to 'avidya' or ignorance. We are, in the first place, unaware of our true nature and are, therefore, misled into believing that we shall be happy if such and such an object is obtained. On fulfilling our desire for a particular object, another desire raises its ugly head again misleading us in the name of happiness. This process goes on indefinitely and that shows that we are not going to be satisfied and be happy unless we attain infinity itself. The infinite depth in our nature that is the source of our happiness is covered or veiled by the seeming attractions we are entrapped in by running after the particular objects in the world. The real source of our happiness that is Infinity itself is clamoring for recognition without acknowledging which we shall not be at peace with ourselves and real happiness shall elude us. How should we go about in ordinary everyday life for enjoying real happiness and peace of mind? The starting point for this venture is our self-awareness from which all our thinking and actions proceed. Spirituality is nothing but a heightened self-awareness culminating in a genuine God-consciousness, resulting in the external manifestations of the internal riches. Such a person is rich before God irrespective of whether he or she is rich or poor in the world. They are the poor in spirit for whom is the Kingdom of God established. Thus the importance of meditation is evident from the exigencies of the nature of reality and of our own nature. This kind of meditation is not a mere pious activity as it is bound to reveal to us the nature of reality and our place in the entire Universe. We shall treat briefly the content of spirituality in this Post with regard to 'Self-awareness' and 'God-consciousness', whereas the next Post will discuss that regarding 'External Expressions'.
By 'self-awareness' we mean more than a mere knowledge of who we are. It involves a certain right attitude to life reflecting our perception of who we are. It is necessarily reflected in our actions and attitudes in real life. For example, people with an unacceptable level of Ego try to browbeat even public officials if things do not turn out according to their plans. They start invoking the names of highly placed officials in support of their demands. Very often such people start with a question: 'Do you know who I am?' In this connection an interesting story of a quarreling businessman at an airport where the question 'do you know who I am?' was thrown at a counter clerk may be entertaining and enlightening. Immediately an officer announced on the public address system saying: "Your attention please. Here is a gentleman who does not know who he is and can anyone help him?" This is an extreme example of a too self-conscious person that is diametrically opposed to genuine self-awareness. As an example of a person with genuine self-awareness, we may cite here the case of the ex-president of India Dr. Abdul Kalaam. On a trip to U. S. A., the VVIP was subjected to a regular check including frisking and removal of shoes at the foot of the aerobridge of the international airlines by security guards. Dr. Kalaam meekly submitted himself to the procedure, although as per rules followed in India he was exempt from the same. He never complained to anyone and kept his cool even when the entire Nation in and outside the Indian Parliament made a hue and cry over the perceived ignominy heaped upon our national icon. A genuine personality with the right kind of self-awareness is not bothered about what happens to him or her as such a person is totally content internally and the inherent self-esteem is never corroded. Such a person is present to reality as it is by his or her own personality bereft of any desire to show off oneself before others. All others are imprisoned in their own psychological prisons where they are condemned to languish in utter misery.
The problem of God-Consciousness may be expressed thus: How is that we are able to have consciousness of God when our whole life is attuned to the demands and exigencies of the material world? Is it that we should set apart a portion of our daily life for spiritual exercises whereby we become aware of God? Over and above such spiritual practices, our entire life should be under the influence of the Spirit in our daily routines. Thus we may say that a wise person is awake to the Reality and a foolish one is governed by appearances. Further, a genuine sense of God-Consciousness is the underlying reality why a person is wise. This is in consonance with the biblical dictum: "The essence of wisdom is the fear of the Lord" (Ecclesiasticus, 1: 14). The parable in the New Testament of the 5 wise virgins and five foolish ones who went out to receive the bridegroom portray how the wise ones were awake to the reality , while the foolish ones were governed by appearances. God-Consciousness is something that always underlies every move a wise person makes. It is like the undercurrent of a river and influences the conduct and behavior of a wise person. This being the case, we may say that a wise person always prays without ceasing even when he or she is engaged with the the exigencies arising out of living in this world. The reason for this fact is that such a person is always in touch with the source of all that is in existence. Since God is the source and root of existence , Whose Essence is Existence itself, a wise person is full of God-Consciousness. A foolish person, on the contrary, is full of his or her own Ego that determines and governs everything where God does not enter into. (To be Cont'd).
No comments:
Post a Comment