Hinduism Self Experience is
Possible
– Here and Now
The notion of whether God, the
True Self, can be seen and experienced has confounded humanity since time
immemorial. Despite instances galore of humans who saw and experienced
Him, we continue to debate and deliberate on this point which actually
should have been laid to rest a long time ago. This super-sensuous
experience is neither intellectual gymnastics nor philosophical regimen.
In his younger days, Naren (the former name of Swami Vivekanand) would
say, "If there is a God, I must see Him". This strong urge and intense
love for the divine set him on his search for a personality who could show
him God. Before meeting Swami Ramakrishna Paramhansa and accepting him as
his spiritual guru, he met as many as fifty guides who obviously could not
show him God and quench his thirst for enlightenment. Fatigued by rites,
rituals, doctrines and dogmas, Naren yielded to defeat and vowed never to
resume his spiritual quest. His auspicious encounter with Swami
Ramakrishna, however, proved fruitful, as the sage answered in a potent
affirmative tone when asked by Naren whether or not he himself had seen
the Absolute. The sage responded, “Yes, I see Him…and you can also see
Him.”
There is a well known adage which says, Seeing is Believing. God
realization is also no different. The first step to realization is the
opening of the divine eye. Only after we have the celestial vision through
the third eye does the worship of the Divine begin. Ordinary mortals
became realized souls only on meditating on the divine light through the
eye of spirit.
In Brahadaranyaka Upanishad, Yajnavalkya tells his wife Maitreyi, "It is
the soul that should be seen, heard of, reflected on and meditated upon.
Verily, by the seeing of, by the hearing of, by the thinking of, by the
understanding of the soul, all is known".
In Paingala Upanishad, Paingala, the pupil, approaches Yajnavalkya and
questions him on meditation, the nature of release. He was told to
meditate on the light form of Brahman for salvation through the divine eye
(in Sanskrit it is called the Divya Chakshu), which was imparted to him.
It is this metaphysical form of Supreme Brahman which is the sole basis of
meditation of an initiated one. It is the light of soul on seeing which
the inward journey of an aspirant starts and continuous exploration of the
hinterland of pure consciousness takes him closer to ultimate union with
the Supreme.
Seeing God is experiencing the divine light and meditating upon it. God,
being omnipotent, can take any shape or form. Lord Krishna was all along
with and beside Arjuna in human garb. Even then, Lord advised Arjuna to
know Him in His elemental and metaphysical form after declaring that He is
the light of lights. Thus, seeing the light form of God is the first step
towards the goal of realization.
The melancholy of Arjuna did not go until he was blessed with the divine
eye by the Lord, acting as preceptor to him and having him undergo the
super-sensuous experience of inherent divinity. As we know, no amount of
talking could take Arjuna out of despair. Theory followed by practical
implementation truly affirms the eternal verity sought to be taught.
High profile philosophers and intellectuals have churned out many pieces
of ready-reckoners and even voluminous treatises on ways and means to
God-realization. But intellectual argumentation and philosophical regimen
do not help. The goal is subtle of the subtlest. It is none other than the
revelation of the sovereign secret.
Today, people state that there are many paths to God. You may follow any
road your mind wishes to follow or adhere to the teachings of any guide or
guru. Citing Bhagavad-Gita they lavishly speak of different paths of God
realization. However, this is a fallacious argument as per our scriptures.
Did Lord Krishna, Shri Rama and other sages of yore impart different sets
of “jnana” to their disciples? Lord Krishna, while imparting eternal
knowledge to Arjuna, said, “It is an ancient yoga”. In the beginning, He
imparted this imperishable yoga to Vivasvan who taught it to Manu and Manu
imparted it to Iksvaku. The Lord also declared that He was not stating any
new doctrine but only restoring the eternal verity handed down from master
to pupil.
Also, do such individuals who hold the opinion that there are many paths
to God have any answer as to why Naren went on challenging and changing
gurus until he was shown God by Swami Ramakrishna Paramhansa? Swami
Ramakrishna was his final guru. He submitted to him and piloted his life
on this guru's teachings. The rest is recorded in history (as we are well
aware).
We need to keep in mind that the Lord taught comprehensive spirituality
through the Bhagavad-Gita and did not divide the eternal path into bhakti
marga, karma yoga, and jnana marga. On initiation into eternal knowledge,
one truly understands the unity inherent in these so-called different
paths.
The world today needs a saint who can teach comprehensive spirituality.
Alas! What we have done with such prophets and sages in the past! We spare
no effort in finding fault with even enlightened souls.
I find myself to be very fortunate for having such a spiritual preceptor
who has fused the three paths as delineated in the Bhagavad-Gita Today, I
can say with conviction that bhakti (devotion), nishkamaseva (selfless
service) and jnana (spiritual knowledge) have become an indelible and
ineffaceable part of my life, as they are as important to me as the air I
breathe. I, therefore, urge my brothers and sisters of this world to
charge after the Divine, to engage in the quest for God now. You too can
experience your True Self, the God hidden within you in the form of Divine
Light. As my spiritual teacher earnestly affirms, “Religion is not the
privilege of the few, but the right of all”. Self experience is possible
here and now!
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