Spiritual Knowledge

Spiritual Knowledge is the need of the day
“Spiritual knowledge is the only thing that can destroy our miseries for ever; any other knowledge satisfies wants only for a time”. (Swami Vivekananda, The Secret of the work).

Today we need a philosophy that can address the dissonance that echoes across so many cultures, peoples and societies. The only solution to solve the many miseries of our world today is to make ourselves pure in intent, strong in spirit strong and educated in a deeper understanding of our shared existence. Misery derived from the conflict of men will continue to exist until the essential human character evolves. And it is through the evolution of our individual nature, that we can effect change in the collective – change that begins deep within the self then impacts one’s family, then our own society, and then even distant cultures and peoples  - even those in direct conflict with us. Spiritual knowledge purifies our thoughts and attitudes and teaches us how to negotiate our life with the fundamental acceptance of the fact that uncertainty is the only certainty, thereby maintaining a sense of equilibrium and connection with the deepest core of one’s being even in the face of great difficulties.

The root cause of our misery is that we forget we are spiritual beings first. We forget that life is impermanent and our material existence and attachments are but a collection fleeting moments. The sole purpose of human life is for our soul to learn the lessons from life, and evolve through purification or our inner self, to be free from the cycle of birth and death. According to Sankhya philosophy, “the whole of nature is for the soul, not the soul for the nature”. But being only body conscious, we take impermanent life as permanent, and waste our life and the lessons it brings, and chase endless desires to catch up to a fleeting mirage of what we think our life should be instead of what it is pointing our soul towards. And that mistake leads to a path that leads to narrow and selfish attachments, which in turn breed lust, anger, intolerance, and robs us from the divine qualities of compassion and understanding that lead to peace. Understanding the perspective of another is extremely necessary in order to see life in its totality, not just a projection of our personal mirage which itself is born with the notion of a fixed identity – often defined by birth, race, nationality, or by societal prejudices. 

The result is clearly seen in today’s world. This beautiful earth is full of violence, fanaticism, and intolerance. It could have progressed much more, if only we could care to gain spiritual knowledge from our true nature, and tried to apply it through our life’s activities. Human life is too short and valuable to be wasted on prejudice and hatred.

Ramprasad the saint poet of Bengal sang, “such rich field of human life is lying fallow which, if cultivated would have given the harvest of gold”. To make every moment precious and useful, we need to be inspired by a lasting knowledge that can guide us in right direction. 

Uplifting Vedanta’s theory Swami Vivekananda says, “Each soul is potentially divine”. Buddha said, Buddhahood is present in everybody; we just have to uncover it. We are all Atman, spiritual beings. The Atman or shared consciousness, which is creating and sustaining all life, is manifesting itself in every life, in every different form, and that is eternal. When body perishes, consciousness does not die, it dissolves in its source again, to re-appear in a different form. “No weapons can cut this Atman, no fire can burn it, no water can wet it, no air can dry it”, (Bhagawad Gita, Chapter II, verse 23). Know thyself, (atmanam bodhi). According to Veda, if we know truly who we are, then we know everything.

The knowledge of our spiritual identity, which is in me and in all, can empower us with fearlessness and compassion. Once we understand that our shared spirit is immortal and eternal, we understand that what we do to anyone or anything, we do to ourselves. This realization makes us compassionate to each other and makes us fearless in our observance of this compassion. 

We have achieved much in the field of technical and material understanding, but very little in terms of the development of our core human qualities. Long back Tagore visualized this problem and said “the world should not be broken up into fragments of narrow domestic walls”. What he feared long ago has become our reality. Though our life is saturated with all the physical comforts, our heart remain empty and unable to respond with unconditional love and compassion for all; it is always conditioned with narrow self-interest and personal gain. This is the sign of mental and spiritual poverty. Until we move forward on the path to our spiritual and mental evolution, we can never hope to have a happy society, regardless of the state of our material wealth and comfort.

Our body and mind are the perfect instruments to help us evolve spiritually, if only we know how to handle them in a correct way.

To bring unity in diversity, to bring good will for all, to have a balanced development of body, mind and soul, “Yoga” is a universally recognized system, about which Paramhansa Yogananda said, “India developed the yoga system, the science of oneness – oneness with the soul with God, oneness with the principles of eternal righteousness; with the universe; and with all mankind”. (The Divine Romance, page 351). Yoga gives us power to have control over our impulsive behavior; (yoga chittavritti nirodha). Through yoga when we are empowered with power of concentration, will power, ability to discriminate between right and wrong, only then we can be master of our own fate, and architect of our own life. By accepting yoga as a part of our life, we can get rid of our narrow and selfish attitude, and can express our inherent divine qualities more in life. By union with divine soul, we can embrace each soul with love, tolerance and compassion. And in that process our shared human existence can be transformed from a battlefield into heaven.  

This great knowledge, which has been highlighted by all realized souls, is for the happiness and well-being of all. There is nothing limited or communal in it. When we are enriched with spiritual knowledge, then life becomes worth living. We transcend the narrow boundary of “I” and “Mine”. Our every thought, action and speech may be motivated with the spirit of love and cooperation. Only then with a feeling of universal brotherhood, we can make this world a loving nest for all. 

Edited by Prodeep Bose
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There is hope!

There is hope! Balancing physical and spiritual energy to walk the path of health and happiness

In Atharva Veda, there is a prayer for long life. Which says;

“For a hundred autumns may we see,

For a hundred autumns may we live,

For a hundred autumns may we know,

For a hundred autumns may we rise”

(Translated by Dr. A. C. Bose)

This ancient prayer is more than a beautiful dream.  It raises an important question - is it really possible to have a joyful long life? To be healthy and happy is in fact the most natural state – one that is born of the equilibrium within the life force that binds us. And it is due to many interfering factors that create imbalance and cause our life to less than healthy and happy. While physical life spans has increased in the modern age due to advanced medicine, whether people are in fact healthier or happier is another matter altogether. Since ancient times across cultures, we all know that mind and body are interrelated, and they affect each other. Good health makes us cheerful and positive, and a positive attitude drives good health. Keeping this in mind, when we try to restore energy, we must consider that other factor beyond food and rest – prana, which is cosmic energy and the invisible life force that propels us forward. 

Our common belief is that when we feel tired, and take good food and some rest, we will be energized again. This theory is true to some extent, as long as it is used to restore bodily energy. And of course the mechanics of our body requires food that is rich in vitamins, minerals, protein, carbohydrates, etc. and which are also easily digestible, so our digestive system is not stressed in the process. Upon which, the caloric energy derived gets distributed to each cell in our body and we feel energized. But there is another kind of energy – one that is not derived from calories. And when we are unaware of that life force and its interplay with caloric energy, we lose the equilibrium within our mind and body that is naturally build upon it.

And so overindulgence can have the opposite effect if, to satisfy our taste, we depend more on processed, spicy and over cooked food or consume too much of it. If we consume animal proteins in large quantities in our daily diet, we forget that something that taste good and fills the stomach, is not necessarily what our body needs. So knowingly or unknowingly we tend to abuse our body with over eating or wrong eating. Consumption of too much animal protein can boost cellular regeneration and energy levels temporarily, but medical findings have found a correlation between red meat consumption and cancer, which is in simple terms, is an overgrowth of cells. So it is important to understand the idea of balance and equilibrium, especially by taking into consideration our needs beyond caloric energy. Prana of life force is in everything and how we consume it, channel it, and expend it makes us balanced or imbalanced. 

Energy constantly moves through our body – the ancients have described the types of energy centers of chakras that are the nodes through which our life force is channeled. Today’s comfortable and sedentary life style actually blocks the movement of energy and deprives us from having good health to some extent. There is research that correlated sitting with shortening lifespans. Our body needs movement like walking, jogging, swimming, yoga, etc. to maintain the flow of energy and equilibrium.

Equally, wrong and negative emotions like anger, greed etc. lead to psychosomatic diseases caused by an unbalanced mental state.  The food that we eat affects this mental state. So does the lack of awareness of the underlying life force – whether it is being nourished or starved. This is at its heart, is an energy issue - and poor consumption and utilization of energy is a key factor. 

But there is a way out of here, or rather, a way inwards, which was given to humanity by our ancient sages, is simple, and can work wonders to transform our lives.

One such system is “yoga”, which was introduced by sage Patanjali. For total development of body, mind, and wisdom (a more appropriate translation of buddhi, often referred to as intellect), - “ yoga” is a system we can rely upon.  If we make it a part of our life, and practice it daily with sincerity, then it can bring about transformational change by developing our body, mind and wisdom to help us find balance and energetic equilibrium.

Yoga handles energy (prana) in two ways. Firstly it teaches to draw more cosmic energy, and secondly it teaches to throw out poisonous substance and negative emotions from our body-mind system using our breath effectively.

Yoga means union of individual soul with supreme soul; to achieve that, one gradually proceeds through eight steps; like yam (control, which we should not do) niyam (discipline, what we should do), asana (exercises), pranayam (proper breathing), pratyahar (withdrawal of the senses), dharana (concentration), dhyan (meditation) and nirvan (liberation). So through yoga, when body mind gets purified, it becomes a good receiver of cosmic energy. Paramhansa Yogananda says “yoga teaches us to know the divine nature in ourselves and others….. Beneath the wave of our consciousness is the infinite ocean of His consciousness. It is because of the wave forgets it is a part of the ocean that it becomes isolated from that oceanic power” (Where there is light, p. 7)

So to make life happy and energetic, we should infuse love and a willingness to help others in all our activities. We should also be careful to stem the leakage points of energy, like unnecessary gossip, or useless activities that have no long term value. 

Today in the name of modernity, we have lost the beauty of the simple life - closeness with nature, the art of spontaneous co-operation with our fellow beings. The resulting unhappiness is manifested everywhere. 

Swami Yogananda’s recipe for bringing health and happiness back into our lives comes to mind - “Drink vitality and receive mental nourishment from a materially and spiritually progressive mind. Take long mental walks on the path of self-confidence. Exercise with the instrument of judgment, introspection and initiative” (Paramahansa Yogananda, Where there is light, p. 109).

Edited by Prodeep Bose