Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Experience the Truth (Article published in Speaking Tree TOI on 21-09-2011)

Knowledge of scriptures might bring a sense of accomplishment and happiness but unless our attitude is flawless and our conscience clear, it will be hard to achieve steadfastness and bliss.

How much ever one is well versed in the Vedas, Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita -- and even if one has shlokas at his finger tips, he must possess control over his senses, limit his desires and contemplate on the knowledge he has, to attain spiritual progress. Ravana had unmatched knowledge but his attitude was not good.

The continuous chain of trials and tribulations of various degrees of magnitude in life could help a seeker understand the meaning and purpose of life. An ignorant person blames either God or Destiny or even more so his family and friends for all that happens to him.

A man wants his young son to learn swimming. He takes him to the nearby lake to give him lessons on how to swim. He first ties an inflatable tube to his waist, so that it lets him float. After some days the boy is familiar with the up thrust got by the arm cycle and leg kick, and he experiences buoyancy. When the father is confident that the boy can float without the help of the tube, he removes it and lets the boy swim without the help of the tube. An inflatable swimming tube only helps the boy to remain afloat on the surface of the water; it only assisted him in learning how to swim. Likewise, scriptures help us to get a vision; we get a vivid account of the glory and splendor of the omnipresence, omniscience and omnipotence of the Absolute Truth. However, ultimately we can progress on the spiritual path only by our own effort.

There are many scholars and pundits who boast and want to prove that the philosophy that they follow is superior to that of others'. These philosophies are like the materials used to keep the boy floating in water. While one person uses an inflatable tube to keep afloat, others have used the dried, unpunctured bottle gourd, some use thermacool blocks, some others use float boards. What is important is that the student needs to learn how to swim; how to keep afloat - it does not matter what the aids used are. No one will ever ask us what type of material we had used to keep ourselves afloat while we were learning to swim. It is the same with philosophies also; the main criterion is to reach the goal.

Truth is one but the means to know it are numerous. Hence the facts regarding the Truth are many. Facts are not self-explanatory; they are analysed by theories and theses and these may differ from each other. We have accumulated vast mounds of information about the Truth, but very few have experienced the Truth.

Truth which is absolute can never be comprehended by the human mind since it is relative. It is impossible to know the Absolute Truth although by the uninterrupted sadhana and grace of the guru, the Self can experience it. Truth thus experienced is but our own experience. This is a universal law, which, if understood, can take us to Bliss, eternal happiness. We are that Self which is comprehensive, composite, part of Cosmic Consciousness and therefore immortal and infinite -- beyond death and destruction. Awareness of this is the experience of Truth.

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