India: Boosting Secularism through Spirituality

• The Oxford Advanced Learners’ dictionary defines Secularism as ‘the belief that religion should not be involved in the organization of society, education, etc.
• The Oxford Advanced Learners’ dictionary defines Religion as ‘the belief in the existence of a god or gods, and the activities that are connected with the worship of them.’
•  The Oxford Advanced Learners’ dictionary defines Spirituality as ‘the quality of being concerned with religion or the human spirit.’

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When India got its Independence from the British Rule our founding fathers decided to go secular and secularism became one of the cornerstones of our country’s characteristics. Secularism and the ‘Liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship’ were not the newly added affirmations in the Indian Constitution’s Preamble, but they were purely reemphasizing India’s secular credentials.

Imagine: India of 1947-48, just free from the 6 centuries of colonial rules of Muslims, Mughals and Britishers in succession, with over 80 percentage of its population practicing Hinduism, had recently suffered a bloody religion-inspired partition into Pakistan (and Bangladesh), was still reeling under the shocks of brutal assassination of the father of the nation Mahatma Gandhi, and simultaneously had all world religions thriving with freedom and dignity.

In the post Independence India the prevailing political and social scenario must have posed two choices in front of the founding members: whether to retain India’s ancient identity as a Hindu nation or to declare it as a secular country. The newly born India proudly chose to be the latter – a Secular Democratic Republic. 

Now, take a look at India of 2014: a securely sovereign nation with its national characteristics intact in terms of secularism and democracy. The demographics have largely remained the same in religious practices with over 80% of its population following Hinduism, and all world religions flourishing with freedom and dignity – giving India its distinction of being the only country in the world to have this respectful environment - strengthened by laws - towards all religions. India is home to the second largest Muslim population in the world, larger than even Pakistan. Well, a few blemishes are there but not serious enough to sully its image.

Success of secularism has been possible because of the inherent qualities of tolerance and respect in Hindu Philosophy towards all religions. Hinduism’s - the oldest and the most evolved religion of the world with an extremely rich and unmatched treasure of sacred scriptures - fundamentals are centred on that one God around which is centred the entire existence and life in the universe; all religions are the various paths propagated by respective messengers - Sons of God - to reach the same one God. Hinduism in its primary form is a philosophy and not a religion; an individual’s personal experience of the Spirit and in essence is Spirituality - the communion of the soul with the Supreme Soul, the Spirit, the God. And, that every soul has emanated from that same Soul and thus each soul is same as all other souls.  The purpose of human lives of a soul is to work out its Karma and attain its natural state of existence i.e., bliss, before merging with its Source. Religion in actuality is a moral ‘way-of-life’ so as to guide a soul on its path to Moksha – Nirvana – liberation from the cycles of births & deaths.     

Though modern Hinduism has acquired a strong religious hue over centuries of practice, it has retained its spiritual core, nevertheless. As the Hinduism have its Chief Gods – The Trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh/Shiv for creating, sustaining and destroying/completing the life cycle respectively, and the combined powers of the Trinity in form of Shakti (Power) as Goddess Durga, and their incarnations, a large pantheon of Gods - 330 million! - with varied faces and names could be a reality in the Indian society due to freedom of choice granted under the Hindu Philosophy of worshiping the God either as a formless Being or as a Being with a form. Since its beginning the heart of the Hinduism has kept throbbing around its foundational elements of Vedic Philosophy and has never let the religion become the centre stage of governance per se. Therefore, the success of India as a secular democratic republic could become a possibility.

So we applaud ourselves for keeping the flag of secularism high and flying! But let us also look at the other side of this success.

Indians, like people in rest of the world, are deeply religious. But because the country has vowed to observe secularism, India has forsaken all valuable teachings and learnings which our rich cultural heritage had to offer. Because the definition of secularism is ‘the belief that religion should not be involved in the organization of society, education, etc.’, we have literally followed it to the t, without reflecting about the implications it could have on our society’s evolution on the humanity index. Almost all countries in the world officially recognize the God’s existence and pray to It for blessings - God Bless America!, the most commonly heard political statement – but we in India refrain from even uttering the word God in public, lest we get branded as a non-secular! And in businesses, just speaking of and about God gets a person termed as an unprofessional!

And, India is a country with 330 million Gods! What an irony!

It is ironical because in our daily life we depend so much on ‘our’ Gods! Everything, every occasion, practically every element of existence is dedicated to the Gods, but anything related to public has to be God-free in India!

The God-free philosophy would have continued to be welcome in a secular nation like ours had it worked well, but a look at the Indian society does not project a pleasant picture. India of today is in a downward spiral with fast erosion of moral and ethical values, mad spread of materialism, proliferation of religious bigotry and intolerance towards other religions coupled with fanaticism and fundamentalism, besides other prevalent serious social, economical and political problems. Quality of life of an average Indian, belonging to all the so-called classes and creed and castes, is severely clouded due to these deepening disturbances in internal culture of the country.

All things can be corrected but only through proper - real - education.

In modern India, definition of education is to acquire bookish knowledge so as to qualify to get an appropriate job. Overall literacy rate is improving and currently it stands at around 75%. There are good schools and institutions for higher education, both in non-technical and technical streams. Some of the indigenously educated professionals are doing well in various fields all across the globe. Back home, millions of people with access to good education have become the ever-thriving workforce in the country, earning and adding to the growing economy of the nation. However, in spite of all these happenings India doesn’t qualify to be a Happy Nation! All global surveys pointers indicate towards the fact that the value of a human life as well as quality of life in India are among the bottom of the comparator table.

To reiterate, the problems persist and pervade every sphere of the society because of lack of real education. India, the land of rich cultural, religious and spiritual heritage, is today left wanting in all aspects of learning and life.

First and foremost thing to be undertaken is to correct our education system. Besides making education accessible to all Indian citizens, structure and pattern of teaching has to be completely overhauled. We should not be producing only workers – both blue & white collar – but nurturing good human beings, people who are happily living their lives.

However, in order to live life one has to first understand the meaning of life! And where else to look for the guidelines but in our precious historical legacy! India’s Spirituality is not only for the practice of saints but equally relevant for commoners as well, irrespective of the religion they may follow. Teachings of Spirituality have to be a part of regular school curriculum in all schools, irrespective of the funding partners’/management members’/students’ practiced faith. Because, Indian Spirituality is not a religion but a way of life – the Art of Living!

Spirituality subjects and chapters have to be designed in such a fashion so as to keep all religious references out of it, to whichever religion those ‘good things’ may belong to. The concept, of course, is inspired from the ‘Moral Science’ subject being taught compulsorily in Christian missionary schools since decades. We simply need to make it comprehensive and ‘religion-free’. Clubbed with it Yoga and Meditation should be made mandatory in schools in order to develop students with a healthy mind and a healthy body.

I know very well that if any such ‘Spiritual’ attempt is initiated in a secular India, all the self-appointed custodians of various faiths will spring into action in vehemently opposing this noble and much needed move, citing numerous self-created so-called religious reasons to prove their protests. Of course, no hasty measures should be undertaken. As is the so-called norm in our democratic country, extensive public debates should be carried on involving influential personalities from all possible walks of life so as to arrive at the consensus, converging core: Spirituality will further boost Secularism in India.

This revolutionary change can be possible with a wise and a courageous political leader at the helm. That is, prime minister of India has to take such initiatives along with his able teams and colleagues and administration in order to correct the Indian education system and make it comprehensive and meaningful – so as to complement the quality of life of all Indians per se. With real education we will witness dramatic positive changes in our society with vanishing double standards and misconceptions and chaos and confusions and inequality and crimes and corruption and insecurities and fears and frustrations and daily-living stress; in effect, ensuring a life worth living for all! The desired changes may take shape fully in a couple of generations to come; never mind, happen they will! We simply need to make the start ...

India, the land of earliest human civilization and the erstwhile wealthiest nation in terms of knowledge & wisdom and material prosperity, cannot be left to wilt; it is high time adequate steps through proper – real – education were undertaken so as to facilitate that India blossoms again!     

Then only the Preamble of the Indian Constitution will become a reality: 

WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a                SOVEREIGN SOCIALIST SECULAR DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC and to secure to all its citizens:

JUSTICE, social, economic and political;

LIBERTY of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship;

EQUALITY of status and of opportunity;

and to promote among them all

FRATERNITY assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the Nation; ...

God Bless India and the world :) 

India's Divine Gifts: Spirituality & Gurus

Being an Indian I often get enquired about spirituality by foreigner friends. And it was in this context recently that i got to briefly put forth my basic understanding – acquired from Gurus’ teachings and preachings - in a discussion on the topic: India, Spirituality and Gurus.

Billions of years ago, the God - the ever-present being - got an “Idea”, wanted to experiment and thus decided to Create and created the Universe. Billions of years later, It’s latest and the best creation – Humans – realized the theory of ‘Big Bang’ and came a bit closer to the concept of Life.

Around five thousand years prior to the ‘discovery’ of the occurrence of the ‘Big-Bang’, on one of the millions of planets in the universe, a few advanced sages realized the real meaning of Life – body, mind & soul being the principle constituents. From the humans’ evolution-index chronology, the land mass was on the earth in the solar system and was called Bharat or later Hindustan - where germinated the thought of human civilization in the ancient era. India, as it is referred to in the modern times, is the place of the origin of the ‘idea of spirituality’ i.e., a soul’s communion with the Spirit, the God.

Human, though came last in the chain of earthly creations, had the most developed brain with an unprecedented power of thoughts and feelings. Inquisitiveness being its inherent nature, and not being satisfied easily with its external/outer discoveries, soon humans embarked on their inner journey to explore the realm of life beyond the mundane world of daily living – littered with sufferings - and occasional happiness. During their exploration the celestially blessed saints experienced the Creator Itself and passed on their understanding of creation to the rest of the human race. Few spiritually dedicated followers recorded the realized souls’ preachings and teachings in form of the Sacred Scriptures for the benefit of the humanity. As Bharat was the holy land of the oldest human civilization, The Vedas, The Puranas, The Upanishads, The Ramayana, The Mahabharata and The Gita - the holy compilations of Divine Intelligence captured by the highly advanced human intellect - became the moral compass for living in the big, bad world.

Rest of the curve of human progression, spread of human civilizations and advent of various religions are well known facts to the world. In the same period India too witnessed those inevitable and gradual changes in its societies. From having a spiritual foundation to its life, the way-of-life went on to rest on the fulcrum of a new concept of connecting with the God called religion; Hinduism evolved from the Vedic - Spiritual – base. From an absolute-yet-abstract being, the God went on to get myriad faces and forms and names. As a natural progression, Hinduism influenced and embraced everything in its vicinity and within its reach including various non-Indian religions. However, Hinduism too became besotted with dogmas and unfounded beliefs and illogical practices; the erosion of its spiritual core was unavoidable. Spirituality – in all its glory and description – remained in hearts and souls of a blessed few whom the Indians and the world went on to revere as Gurus.           

India, the land of the origin of ‘the idea of spirituality’, is today as far removed from this concept of life as a goat would be from a guitar! For a few quasi enthusiasts, religion, in its modern form, has become the method of acquiring some iota of so-called spirituality. For the rest, religion, with its contemporary interpretations and current practices, is the sole way to connect with God – for praying for granting wishes and taking away pains; God-realization and Self-realization are terms ‘not-applicable’ to most. Simultaneously, in the name of spirituality, India has witnessed the flourishing of a new breed of beings called the modern gurus – God-men & God-women, who have severely damaged the spiritual fabric of India.

Many a times it feels to me as if the nation is carrying the baggage of anciently acquired spirituality, now considered archaic from its practical purposes.    

However, the issue is not of rejection of spirituality by the modern masses; the case is of mass ignorance. If made to understand or even exposed to the concept of spirituality in the right manner, many would be willing to get deeper into the subject.

For walking on the spiritual path one needs the guidance from a Guru, and in India of today there are well known gurus with millions of followers to boast of. However, how many of them will qualify to be revered as a real Guru is a million dollar question.

Nevertheless, the current situation does not paint so faded a picture of India’s fast-fading spiritual treasure. Real gurus are there; one needs to search for them - in cities like Banaras and in the foothills of Himalayas; a few saints are present in down south as well. Because they are not ‘mass-gurus’ – commercial gurus – general public is generally not aware about their existence; they too remain aloof and are not easily accessible. However, every person knows about all the revered Gurus of India who were the founding fathers of Spirituality and whose work were carried further by the contemporary yogis; their teachings and preachings are well recorded and preserved and accessible to all; the requisite is an individual’s desire for wisdom.

India’s widespread prevalence of spiritual ignorance has become chronic. Actually as we have progressed as a society over the millennia, our spiritual interior has worn out and diminished to the extent that today we suffer from spiritual-amnesia! We have lost the vast knowledge base we had built about Life: with its God, Its Universe, and Life in it; the purpose of life, a soul’s journey through many physical incarnations including human form, and inclination of a soul to remain in its natural state of being i.e. in Bliss, and its return to its origin – by merging into the Supreme Soul, the Supreme Spirit – the God.

Compounding the problem, general public has a perception that being a ‘family’ person one cannot practice spirituality. Ignorance, again! In fact, being a family person – a person of the world – an individual is subjected to various types of stress in daily life, leading to ever-present unhappiness, lack of peace, frustration and insecurity. The genesis of these miserable feelings is rooted in human relationships and in events & incidents of life. Not that everything and everyone in a person’s life are bad. But because a person does not understand the meaning of Life, therefore, he/she senses life’s ‘happenings’ in an altogether a different manner than the real occurrence. Reason: Ignorance.

So, as it becomes clearer, human ignorance is about Life per se. That Life is about the Soul and its journey into the Ether through a pre-destined time spent on the Earth, interacting and living with all other souls in various situations and relationships, is a simple theory not many can comprehend.

“But it is not souls we interact with! We live with humans! Soul is released from body after death of a person!” ...  So, for most of us mortal beings, a human is a body which turns into a soul - ghost ! - after death. 

The biggest ignorance of Mankind!

Therefore, what is the solution for a soul’s salvation?

A Guru.

A Guru, the enlightened, God-realised soul, sent to the earth to take people from the darkness (ignorance) to the light (knowledge and wisdom) and thus guide them on the path of God-realization through self-realization, for attaining soul’s salvation and union with the Supreme Soul – the God. 

A Guru, to talk to the mankind that there is One Soul, the Supreme Soul, from whom all souls have originated. And because the Supreme Soul is ever-present and cannot be destroyed or killed, thus all souls emerging from It cannot be destroyed or killed either. However, once a soul gets originated, it is given a life-form – the physical form of a lowly creature, to begin with. The soul has to live the life of that creature and then pass through many more – millions! – births & deaths before it gets the opportunity to inhabit a human body.

A Guru, to teach the humankind that they are fortunate to be born in the physical body of a human being, the highest creation of God, and they should utilize this opportunity to tune with the God and return to the Source, and be free from the burden of rebirths and life-associated miseries.

A Guru, to enlighten we humans that the blessings to live in a human body is given to a soul based on its past lives’ Karmas i.e., actions. The purpose of a human life of a soul is to utilize the birth to work out its Karmas and pave its way towards returning to its Origin – the God.

A Guru, to tell us that though the human life is the highest form of life, however, the Creator has made the return journey of a soul to its Origin fraught with challenges; nevertheless, It has given adequate intelligence to a soul to overcome the challenges and carve a path for its joyous reunion with It.

A Guru, to give us the wisdom that human intelligence is actually the God’s Intelligence, and, with the Intelligence It has given us Free Will – to choose between good and evil. It depends upon an individual to utilize his/her free will and the given intelligence to his/her benefit, by either getting caught into the illusions of life ‘Maya’ or get conned by the Satan – the evil and the opposing force in the Nature – and get sucked into the vortex of life or get carried to the God by employing the Divine features of the given intelligence and the free will in living the life.

A Guru, to inform we human beings that the God has bestowed us with Its Intelligence because It has made us in Its Image. And that is the reason why a human is Its best and the ultimate creation! It is no coincidence but by Divine design that the world hasn’t seen any higher form of life being created after humans. And, because we are created in the image of the Supreme Soul whose nature is absolute Bliss, a human being also becomes happy when at absolute peace. 

A Guru, to educate us that though we are made in the image of God but we are yet not God! All God-features are latent in us; all powers stored but hidden in our body and mind. The God wants us to learn and become conscious of our Divine nature and work towards God-realization through Self-realization – and return to It!

A Guru, to divulge to us that we can realize both Self & God only through good Karmas by following the path of Spirituality – the quickest and the surest method for a soul’s union with its Source!

A Guru, to reveal to us that the fastest and the highest spiritual technique for Self & God realization is through the scientific method of Kriya Yoga – Yoga with Action, centred around deep and intensive meditation. Kriya Yoga is a practical approach by which a person leads his/her normal day-to-day life and simultaneously is spiritually active and gradually evolves towards attaining the highest goal of his/her soul – union with the Supreme Soul.    

A Guru, to give sermons on the Kriya Yoga. Kriya Yoga, the ancient and the most complete form of yoga, was taught by Lord Krishna to his dearest disciple Arjuna while giving him the Divine Wisdom through his discourses of the Gita. The Guru of all Gurus, Babaji, revived the Kriya Yoga by teaching it to his most advanced disciple Lahiri Mahasaya, who in turn carried it forward through his followers – especially Sri Yukteswar Giri. Babaji, the still living Guru in the Himalayas for over three millennia now, further bestowed the Divine responsibility on Sri Yukteswar-ji to train his pre-destined and blessed disciple Mukunda Lal Ghosh in Kriya Yoga who, as Paramahansa Yogananda, took the ancient yogic teaching treasures to the West. Jesus Christ had requested Babaji to send a suitable soul to America to teach Kriya Yoga for liberation of deserving and willing souls there.

A Guru, to make us realize the real meaning of Life – human life in particular; that Life is not the few years a soul spends on the earth but its origin dates back to its emanation from the Soul itself and its existence is till eternity. That a soul’s human life is not one life but many human lives – till it has worked out all its karmas and has no desire left absolutely, a state when the soul is ready to travel to the next and the higher sphere of existence.

A Guru, to impart the knowledge on the intriguing intricacies of a soul’s human-life journey, which passes through many incarnations on the Earth to the Astral world to the Causal space before it dissolves in the Supreme Spirit. Earthly life form is the grossest physical form; a soul gets to go to the astral world – in its finer form made up of ‘light’ elements – once it is fully realized. An Astral being is either kept there for further evolution of other astral beings or sent back to the earth – as a Guru – to liberate suffering souls. Once an astral being has finished its assigned duties, it is brought closer to the God – by the God itself – as a Causal being. In the causal space every soul is in its finest and its initial state of existence - an abstract appearance, without any physical form - in form of an idea! The soul is now closest to the God in its character and power. After spending pre-assigned time in the causal world, the soul finally merges with its Originator. The entire journey of a soul takes millions of years. A causal being could be sent back to the earth if need is felt by the God. Jesus Christ, Lord Rama and Lord Krishna are some of those souls!

A Guru, to highlight the fact that the Creator has ensured Its presence in every created particle – animate or inanimate – of the universe, which is in actuality a part of Its own body. It resides in the Heaven, a place beyond the universe and within the universe itself. There is absolutely nothing in this world without the manifestation of the Lord within it. And, at the fundamental level everything in the creation is made up of Its Idea - which is vibration and light in form. The entire cosmos and the life in it is Its’ show entirely; various creations have their allocated role to play and then exit into the next life, till the soul is able to overcome the births-deaths cycle and mingle with the Creator. Everything and everybody belongs to the God, and to nobody else.

A Guru, to put forth the essence of consciousness and its various stages: sub-consciousness, consciousness, super-consciousness and cosmic consciousness. Only a human being can comprehend the various stages of consciousness in one life – through the practice of Kriya Yoga. Sub-consciousness denotes the ‘sleeping’ stage; a human has consciousness when it is ‘aware’ and is ‘awake’ in the worldly sense; in super-consciousness a person is connected with the higher consciousness of the universe; and, a super advanced being - yogi - with a universally expanded consciousness can comprehend the cosmic consciousness - the God’s consciousness. Only a Guru qualifies to have the cosmic consciousness.    

A Guru, to explain to us that as all souls have come out of the same Supreme Being, thus, we all are one in every aspect. In numerous human births our individual souls have inhabited many places with various nationalities and races and religions and creeds and castes and colours, and have been in both genders and all possible relationships. Therefore, in effect, no single human life defines a human being. A human being is the sum total of all the human lives it has lived and will live.

A Guru, to reiterate that with the wisdom about Life per se, there is no need to obsess about anything in the world. A human being should do its worldly duties walking the path of morality and aspire towards its soul’s liberation. Rest all endeavours are foolish and cause only sufferings and miseries for all including the self, and make no sense at all. Universal unity, brotherhood, respect and love should be the fundamentals of our human existence. 

Finally, I pray to the Heavenly Father and the Divine Mother that It resends the Causal Souls as reincarnations - God’s Sons & Daughters & Gurus - to preach to each human being the practical paths of spirituality, following which every person will get uplifted into a higher being – transforming the Earth into the Heaven, with Love, Peace and Bliss pervading its every element and the ether!

Jai Gurudev :)    

P.S.: 'Hand of God' photograph courtesy NASA.