A Few Blissful Seconds In Bungee Jumping
Deepak Ranade
The present is continuously being distorted by memories of the past or by projections into the future. The pristine present moment is continuously adulterated by this distortion. The mind is therefore never still. The thoughts keep flowing relentlessly , almost involuntarily. And thoughts are entirely within the domain of past events or apprehensions of the future.
When a person jumps off the ledge in bungee jumping, the thrill he experiences is largely due to his confining his awareness to the here and now. He does not deliberate about the past or future. Those few seconds belong to the present. That is probably what makes adventure sport so exciting, risks notwithstanding.
The here and now all the while gets modified into the then and there depending on the programme that is used. This programme is the amalgamation of memories, temperament and conditioning . The output generated after processing the present by this programme is then categorised as happiness, sadness and the entire gamut of emotions. The present intrinsically has no characteristic. It is devoid of any emotional shade. It is just awareness. Pure being-ness . The mind transforms unbiased cognition to biased perception . All emotions are purely within the ambit of perception. There is nothing absolute about them. The constant struggle that ensues in the mind is the duel between the individuals perception of what is and how it ought to be.
The natural succession to this line of thinking is whether one can really manipulate the outer world and ensure what ought to be. A very honest answer would be a categorical no .
The present moment is wasted in castigating the past and strategising the future. Knowing, deep down, of not having the wherewithal to effect our will, we would realise how insane is our obsession with power to control. It is a common experience that anticipation of happiness is probably more joyful than the actual event and anticipation of pain is more painful than the point of suffering. In both the cases it is the present moment that is pregnant with perception of an event that has yet to happen. And in both cases the perception is in hyperbole. That is why when the actual event takes place, both the pain and the happiness are lesser than projected. Meditation is training the mind to be in the here and now. Chanting , and rhythmic breathing are means to this end. Focusing on a particular deity or mantras serve a similar purpose. The present moment is devoid of any sense of ego. The pure present moment when disrobed of the past or future is just a sense of amness . This am-ness has no name, no past and no aspirations, rather like what the bungee jumper experiences. Or those moments when one is so absorbed in what one is doing that one loses the sense of identity. Like listening to soulful music or for that matter when a surgeon is operating. We all probably experience these quasi-meditative states off and on but we might not be aware of it. That point of impersonal consciousness is nothing short of meditation. And losing ones identity, even if for a few moments, is pleasurable. Because at that moment all perceived emotions also vanish as they are of the sense of identity. The realised soul resides in that state voluntarily.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
THE 7 HABITS JOURNAL
THE 7 HABITS JOURNAL
Stephen R Covey
OF ALL the inner gifts unique to human beings , the most unique is selfawareness the ability to step outside ourselves and think about our thinking, our behaviour, our strengths and weaknesses, and our motives. The best thing I know of to nurture self-awareness is to keep a journal. It is an activity that not only significantly increases self-awareness , but it also enhances each of our gifts and the synergy among them. This is true because selfawareness allows you to observe your involvement your participation in the activities and relationships of your life. It helps you begin to get outside the box of your thinking and the habit patterns of your life and sets you up for tremendous personal learning and growth.
Your personal journal is a powerful tool that can help you keep connected to your life mission or vision. Just think of how the two interact. A mission statement is your own personal constitution, and your journal is your record of how closely your thoughts and actions reflect that constitution. Your journal can become a more effective alignment instrument if you use it as a safe place you can go to reflect on your choices. Whether youre pleased or disappointed with the results youre getting in your life, write about it. Get it out on paper . Notice how the law of the harvest operates in your life. See how consequences flow from root causes. See how results can be traced to paradigms , processes, and habits and how those results either support or contradict the vision you defined for your life.
Stephen R Covey
OF ALL the inner gifts unique to human beings , the most unique is selfawareness the ability to step outside ourselves and think about our thinking, our behaviour, our strengths and weaknesses, and our motives. The best thing I know of to nurture self-awareness is to keep a journal. It is an activity that not only significantly increases self-awareness , but it also enhances each of our gifts and the synergy among them. This is true because selfawareness allows you to observe your involvement your participation in the activities and relationships of your life. It helps you begin to get outside the box of your thinking and the habit patterns of your life and sets you up for tremendous personal learning and growth.
Your personal journal is a powerful tool that can help you keep connected to your life mission or vision. Just think of how the two interact. A mission statement is your own personal constitution, and your journal is your record of how closely your thoughts and actions reflect that constitution. Your journal can become a more effective alignment instrument if you use it as a safe place you can go to reflect on your choices. Whether youre pleased or disappointed with the results youre getting in your life, write about it. Get it out on paper . Notice how the law of the harvest operates in your life. See how consequences flow from root causes. See how results can be traced to paradigms , processes, and habits and how those results either support or contradict the vision you defined for your life.
Friday, July 3, 2009
BUDDHA: The four noble truths.
Size can often distort clarity of perception
VITHAL C NADKARNI
JAPANESE master Haruki Murakamis story The Elephant Vanishes has a kitchen equipment company PRO as a protagonist. He becomes obsessed by the disappearance of an old elephant from an abandoned zoo. The story explores the surreal consequences that flow when things get out balance. Even the most beautifully designed item dies if it is out of balance with its surroundings, ruminates the protagonist , who later goes on and on about witnessing the change in the elephants size in relation to the keepers size.
He begins to notice that the balance in size between the two has become more equal, because the elephant has shrunk or the keeper has gotten bigger, or both. Following the disappearance of the elephant and the keeper, the narrator again expresses the idea that things around me have lost their balance .
In contrast to Murakamis shrinking elephant, which progressively disappears into oblivion , is the idiom of the elephant in the room that no one notices. This is a problem somewhat like the emperor without clothes that everyone knows about very well but no one wants to acknowledge either because its embarrassing or tabooed. And it takes a childs innocence or fearlessness to rip off our collective mask of denial, to expose reality as it ought to be perceived.
Size can also distort clarity of perception with sheer proximity or gravity. Thats when being too close or too involved leads to loss of healthy perception that empowers correct decision-making . This comes out in the Buddhist parable of the elephant and its footprint attributed to Sariputta, one of the most important disciples of the Buddha, who was revered as Dharmasenapati. In terms of size, the elephants four footprints are reckoned to be the foremost among the tracks of all legged animals, Sariputta said. In the same way, all skilful qualities are gathered under the four noble truths, he added.
The first is the truth of suffering ; existence entails pain or dukkha. Whether one talks about acute pain or chronic pain, of the death or loss of a parent or the abandonment by a lover, the passing of youth or the loss of a job, there is no question that to live is to suffer. The second truth is of origination of suffering due to desire. The third is of its cessation ; and the last is that of the path of practice leading to the cessation of suffering through moderation the Middle Way. Use it to be free.
VITHAL C NADKARNI
JAPANESE master Haruki Murakamis story The Elephant Vanishes has a kitchen equipment company PRO as a protagonist. He becomes obsessed by the disappearance of an old elephant from an abandoned zoo. The story explores the surreal consequences that flow when things get out balance. Even the most beautifully designed item dies if it is out of balance with its surroundings, ruminates the protagonist , who later goes on and on about witnessing the change in the elephants size in relation to the keepers size.
He begins to notice that the balance in size between the two has become more equal, because the elephant has shrunk or the keeper has gotten bigger, or both. Following the disappearance of the elephant and the keeper, the narrator again expresses the idea that things around me have lost their balance .
In contrast to Murakamis shrinking elephant, which progressively disappears into oblivion , is the idiom of the elephant in the room that no one notices. This is a problem somewhat like the emperor without clothes that everyone knows about very well but no one wants to acknowledge either because its embarrassing or tabooed. And it takes a childs innocence or fearlessness to rip off our collective mask of denial, to expose reality as it ought to be perceived.
Size can also distort clarity of perception with sheer proximity or gravity. Thats when being too close or too involved leads to loss of healthy perception that empowers correct decision-making . This comes out in the Buddhist parable of the elephant and its footprint attributed to Sariputta, one of the most important disciples of the Buddha, who was revered as Dharmasenapati. In terms of size, the elephants four footprints are reckoned to be the foremost among the tracks of all legged animals, Sariputta said. In the same way, all skilful qualities are gathered under the four noble truths, he added.
The first is the truth of suffering ; existence entails pain or dukkha. Whether one talks about acute pain or chronic pain, of the death or loss of a parent or the abandonment by a lover, the passing of youth or the loss of a job, there is no question that to live is to suffer. The second truth is of origination of suffering due to desire. The third is of its cessation ; and the last is that of the path of practice leading to the cessation of suffering through moderation the Middle Way. Use it to be free.
KARMA THEORY :The Eternal Debate Over Destiny And Free Will
The Eternal Debate Over Destiny And Free Will
Hasmukh Adhia
A friend once told me that he never could resolve the conflict of destiny versus free will as propounded in Hindu philosophy. I thought it was pretty simple. There are three types of karma. Sanchit karma is the total accumulated stock of ones past karmas. Prarabdha karma what we call as destiny is that part of Sanchit karma which is passed down to us in this birth for suffering or enjoyment. And then there is Agami karma which is performed in this birth, out of free will.
There is the example of the bow and arrow in archery. The accumulated stock of arrows in the archers case slung over his shoulder is the Sanchit karma. The arrow that has just left his bow is the Prarabdha karma and the arrow in his hand at the moment is Agami karma. He can decide not to use this arrow, or he can choose to use it either to protect the weak or to harass them. Thus while Prarabdha karma is something which cannot be undone, we have free will available in the form of Agami karma.
My friend was not satisfied. He asked me: But how do we know which are the karmas that form part of our destiny Is death or major disease or wealth part of destiny If everyones date of death is pre-decided , what is the role of medical science And so on. He was full of questions. His questions made me realise that i was not equipped to solve his dilemma of wishing to understand destiny versus free will. So i decided to approach my spiritual mentor for more clarity.
My spiritual guru sat me down and told me that there is a role of both karma and free will in all aspects of life including in trying to save someone from the jaws of death. At the time of action, one should think of ones destiny, because no one can predict it.
Then what is the use of the theory of Prarabdha karma i asked Swamiji. I was told that the role of Prarabdha theory is only in explaining the results of the action. In spite of best efforts, if results could not be achieved, it can be attributed to destiny.
The theory of destiny is useful because it helps a person in accepting results without being frustrated. At the same time it does not make a successful person egoistic, if he understands the role of destiny in his success. Is it possible that even a persons free will, that is, his inclination to put in efforts to achieve something, is also influenced by destiny I turn to my guru for an answer. Yes, but rarely so, he informs me. The example of Rama deciding to go after golden deer is given to explain how the course of destiny that was to happen influenced his free will.
Does this mean that sometimes karma falls flat in the face of destiny No, says Swamiji. Karma never fails, although it appears to have failed in achieving the immediate worldly ends. All karmas are in any case getting added to the stock of your Sanchit karma, out of which future results can be improved.
It is like a person who wishes to remain physically fit by engaging in a match. He loses the game, but despite that, he does achieve physical fitness, points out Swamiji. So, the moral of the story is: Do your best always and leave the rest to God.
Hasmukh Adhia
A friend once told me that he never could resolve the conflict of destiny versus free will as propounded in Hindu philosophy. I thought it was pretty simple. There are three types of karma. Sanchit karma is the total accumulated stock of ones past karmas. Prarabdha karma what we call as destiny is that part of Sanchit karma which is passed down to us in this birth for suffering or enjoyment. And then there is Agami karma which is performed in this birth, out of free will.
There is the example of the bow and arrow in archery. The accumulated stock of arrows in the archers case slung over his shoulder is the Sanchit karma. The arrow that has just left his bow is the Prarabdha karma and the arrow in his hand at the moment is Agami karma. He can decide not to use this arrow, or he can choose to use it either to protect the weak or to harass them. Thus while Prarabdha karma is something which cannot be undone, we have free will available in the form of Agami karma.
My friend was not satisfied. He asked me: But how do we know which are the karmas that form part of our destiny Is death or major disease or wealth part of destiny If everyones date of death is pre-decided , what is the role of medical science And so on. He was full of questions. His questions made me realise that i was not equipped to solve his dilemma of wishing to understand destiny versus free will. So i decided to approach my spiritual mentor for more clarity.
My spiritual guru sat me down and told me that there is a role of both karma and free will in all aspects of life including in trying to save someone from the jaws of death. At the time of action, one should think of ones destiny, because no one can predict it.
Then what is the use of the theory of Prarabdha karma i asked Swamiji. I was told that the role of Prarabdha theory is only in explaining the results of the action. In spite of best efforts, if results could not be achieved, it can be attributed to destiny.
The theory of destiny is useful because it helps a person in accepting results without being frustrated. At the same time it does not make a successful person egoistic, if he understands the role of destiny in his success. Is it possible that even a persons free will, that is, his inclination to put in efforts to achieve something, is also influenced by destiny I turn to my guru for an answer. Yes, but rarely so, he informs me. The example of Rama deciding to go after golden deer is given to explain how the course of destiny that was to happen influenced his free will.
Does this mean that sometimes karma falls flat in the face of destiny No, says Swamiji. Karma never fails, although it appears to have failed in achieving the immediate worldly ends. All karmas are in any case getting added to the stock of your Sanchit karma, out of which future results can be improved.
It is like a person who wishes to remain physically fit by engaging in a match. He loses the game, but despite that, he does achieve physical fitness, points out Swamiji. So, the moral of the story is: Do your best always and leave the rest to God.
THIN PLACES :The Joy Of Discovering Those Special Places
The Joy Of Discovering Those Special Places
Marguerite Theophil
In parts of Scotland, Ireland, Wales and England, there are certain sites that locals call thin places . Here, it is believed , the distance between heaven and earth shrinks, the veil between the two worlds becomes so thin, one is actually able to perceive something of heaven itself, receiving a glimpse of the glory of God.
Sensing the deep spirituality of these sites, ancient Celts built many of their places of worship here, or simply marked them with stones, and later Christians also built churches, monasteries and cemeteries here. Visiting these sites even today, one can lose all track of time and space, feeling deep inside that one is on holy ground.
Yaqui Indian Shaman Don Juan Matus , with whom Carlos Castaneda apprenticed, spoke about how most people are unaware as to why they stop to rest at certain places in the environment , but they do so because these are places of power that hold a more conscious focus of energy.
It is not surprising that thin places, where we step from one plane to another, are most often associated with wild or remote landscapes unfamiliar territory where our usual modes of control do not work, where instead, the unknown actually becomes our means of discovery. Many religious traditions have stories of their teachers and saints experiencing intense life-changing encounters with God in the midst of nature.
M K Gandhi, in a spiritual message to the world, spoke of an indefinable, mysterious power that pervades everything. I feel it, though I do not see it. It is this unseen power that makes itself felt and yet defies all proof, because it is so unlike all that I perceive through my senses. It transcends the senses.
Some people notice thin places . Others do not. The thing to understand about thin places is that whether they are marked or not, it requires a kind of reflective and receptive capacity to discern them.
Another factor is that some respond to a particular thin place; the same location leaves others cold. You know that you are in your thin place when you feel the boundaries of time and space disappear. There is no yesterday, today or tomorrow; only eternity. Having experienced the blessings of a thin place, you return to your life refreshed and renewed, graced with a new awareness of similar places in everyday life. The glimpses of glory in those sacred landscapes should also enable us to experience the divinity all around us. A verse from the Gnostic text, the Gospel of Thomas, has Jesus saying: The kingdom of God is spread upon the earth, and men see it not.
In fact, it is beautifully said that these thin places are simply the way Home . One of the precious gifts of realisation of eternal time and space is that when you cannot physically go back to these places, you can return repeatedly to them in your memory and imagination.
Take some time off to think about and remember the thin places in your own life. Recall a place that refreshes your spirit and opens out to the threshold of the sacred, and return to this place in your imagination and once again, wherever you are, experience Gods loving presence.
Marguerite Theophil
In parts of Scotland, Ireland, Wales and England, there are certain sites that locals call thin places . Here, it is believed , the distance between heaven and earth shrinks, the veil between the two worlds becomes so thin, one is actually able to perceive something of heaven itself, receiving a glimpse of the glory of God.
Sensing the deep spirituality of these sites, ancient Celts built many of their places of worship here, or simply marked them with stones, and later Christians also built churches, monasteries and cemeteries here. Visiting these sites even today, one can lose all track of time and space, feeling deep inside that one is on holy ground.
Yaqui Indian Shaman Don Juan Matus , with whom Carlos Castaneda apprenticed, spoke about how most people are unaware as to why they stop to rest at certain places in the environment , but they do so because these are places of power that hold a more conscious focus of energy.
It is not surprising that thin places, where we step from one plane to another, are most often associated with wild or remote landscapes unfamiliar territory where our usual modes of control do not work, where instead, the unknown actually becomes our means of discovery. Many religious traditions have stories of their teachers and saints experiencing intense life-changing encounters with God in the midst of nature.
M K Gandhi, in a spiritual message to the world, spoke of an indefinable, mysterious power that pervades everything. I feel it, though I do not see it. It is this unseen power that makes itself felt and yet defies all proof, because it is so unlike all that I perceive through my senses. It transcends the senses.
Some people notice thin places . Others do not. The thing to understand about thin places is that whether they are marked or not, it requires a kind of reflective and receptive capacity to discern them.
Another factor is that some respond to a particular thin place; the same location leaves others cold. You know that you are in your thin place when you feel the boundaries of time and space disappear. There is no yesterday, today or tomorrow; only eternity. Having experienced the blessings of a thin place, you return to your life refreshed and renewed, graced with a new awareness of similar places in everyday life. The glimpses of glory in those sacred landscapes should also enable us to experience the divinity all around us. A verse from the Gnostic text, the Gospel of Thomas, has Jesus saying: The kingdom of God is spread upon the earth, and men see it not.
In fact, it is beautifully said that these thin places are simply the way Home . One of the precious gifts of realisation of eternal time and space is that when you cannot physically go back to these places, you can return repeatedly to them in your memory and imagination.
Take some time off to think about and remember the thin places in your own life. Recall a place that refreshes your spirit and opens out to the threshold of the sacred, and return to this place in your imagination and once again, wherever you are, experience Gods loving presence.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Get More Out Of Life With Deep Silence
Get More Out Of Life With Deep Silence
Swami Brahmdev
Silence is a valuable constituent of the game of life; silence is the key that has the potential to open doors; it can free you of confusion. Silence empowers you think things through and come up with solutions because it is only in silence you can listen well. You can listen to the deepest wisdom of your soul.
In the absence of silence you tend to get overtaken by the mind and the body, and emotions. The clutter prevents you from listening to your psyche and soul. To listen to your psyche, your soul, your Divinity, you need to establish a strong relationship with silence ; without it we might remain unaware of many things. When we live on the surface, the noise is overpowering.
It may be interesting to carry out a small experiment with your life. Go some place where there is plenty of silence and quiet. Sit in silence and observe yourself. You will find that in that silence you are beginning to get to know yourself . People go to the Himalayas and the caves to find a silent, secluded place free of distractions. The ambience of quiet engenders the exercise of looking within.
The life most of us live, is an outer life. The outside is a beautiful world; we have created it with our consciousness. However, the inner world is even better, more powerful, stronger, greater and bigger. Whatever exists in the universe outside also exists inside you. The whole universe, and maybe more, exists inside you. With our limited capacities we are able to become a little bit aware of the outer world, but by bringing alive our inner world we can know much more. We wish for possible happiness and success; its the inner world that has the capacity to open many more possibilities for you.
Right now you are enjoying travelling. You take decisions on the basis of the possibility of a peaceful, joyful, harmonious, healthy, mindful and clear life, without any kind of insecurity or fear, pain, sufferings, worries. If we are searching for those possibilities in the outer world it is not possible, because the outer world has different kinds of possibilities also. It can give every comfort you ask for, but with every comfort, there comes some discomfort too. With any outer joy, pain will also be there. With any outer happiness, unhappiness would come too. Anything that comes from the outer world comes with its opposite in tow. Take some time off every day to be silent, even if for five or 10 minutes Feel it, experience it, and observe it. That is the moment when you are with you, when you available to yourself. When you are in silence you are living in the present, which we dont do very often.
Silence does not mean absence of speech. Silence is an inner state. Something will automatically change in your state, in your nature, and silence will establish itself. Even if you are in a catastrophe, no one can destroy your silence; no one can take the inner quiet away from you. Once silence starts helping you, helping your evolution, then you can enjoy the beauty of life.
Silence is a state of consciousness . Silence is not an effort. If you are making an effort to be silent you are making more noise. Silence is an effortless effort. It will be born spontaneously with your understanding. Silence is the birthplace of your soul.
Swami Brahmdev
Silence is a valuable constituent of the game of life; silence is the key that has the potential to open doors; it can free you of confusion. Silence empowers you think things through and come up with solutions because it is only in silence you can listen well. You can listen to the deepest wisdom of your soul.
In the absence of silence you tend to get overtaken by the mind and the body, and emotions. The clutter prevents you from listening to your psyche and soul. To listen to your psyche, your soul, your Divinity, you need to establish a strong relationship with silence ; without it we might remain unaware of many things. When we live on the surface, the noise is overpowering.
It may be interesting to carry out a small experiment with your life. Go some place where there is plenty of silence and quiet. Sit in silence and observe yourself. You will find that in that silence you are beginning to get to know yourself . People go to the Himalayas and the caves to find a silent, secluded place free of distractions. The ambience of quiet engenders the exercise of looking within.
The life most of us live, is an outer life. The outside is a beautiful world; we have created it with our consciousness. However, the inner world is even better, more powerful, stronger, greater and bigger. Whatever exists in the universe outside also exists inside you. The whole universe, and maybe more, exists inside you. With our limited capacities we are able to become a little bit aware of the outer world, but by bringing alive our inner world we can know much more. We wish for possible happiness and success; its the inner world that has the capacity to open many more possibilities for you.
Right now you are enjoying travelling. You take decisions on the basis of the possibility of a peaceful, joyful, harmonious, healthy, mindful and clear life, without any kind of insecurity or fear, pain, sufferings, worries. If we are searching for those possibilities in the outer world it is not possible, because the outer world has different kinds of possibilities also. It can give every comfort you ask for, but with every comfort, there comes some discomfort too. With any outer joy, pain will also be there. With any outer happiness, unhappiness would come too. Anything that comes from the outer world comes with its opposite in tow. Take some time off every day to be silent, even if for five or 10 minutes Feel it, experience it, and observe it. That is the moment when you are with you, when you available to yourself. When you are in silence you are living in the present, which we dont do very often.
Silence does not mean absence of speech. Silence is an inner state. Something will automatically change in your state, in your nature, and silence will establish itself. Even if you are in a catastrophe, no one can destroy your silence; no one can take the inner quiet away from you. Once silence starts helping you, helping your evolution, then you can enjoy the beauty of life.
Silence is a state of consciousness . Silence is not an effort. If you are making an effort to be silent you are making more noise. Silence is an effortless effort. It will be born spontaneously with your understanding. Silence is the birthplace of your soul.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Secular Governance And A Spiritual Culture
Secular Governance And A Spiritual Culture
S Radhakrishnan
SAbid Husain in his Indian Nationhood and National Culture indicates the central characteristic of Indian culture as it has grown from its beginning to its present position... He argues that there has been a common spiritual outlook on life, to which various races and religions have made contributions . Indias cultural history of several thousand years shows that the subtle but strong thread of unity which runs through the infinite multiplicity of her life, was not woven by stress or pressure of power groups but the vision of seers, the vigil of saints, the speculation of philosophers , and the imagination of the poets and artists and that these are the only means which can be used to make this national unity wider, stronger and more lasting.
It may appear somewhat strange that our government should be a secular one while our culture is rooted in spiritual values . Secularism here does not mean irreligion or atheism or even stress on material comforts. It proclaims that it lays stress on the university of spiritual values that may be attained by a variety of ways.
Religion is a transforming experience. It is not a theory of God. It is spiritual consciousness . Belief and conduct, rites and ceremonies , dogmas and authorities are subordinate to the art of self-discovery and contact with the Divine. When the individual withdraws his soul from all outward events, gathers himself together inwardly, strives with concentration, there breaks upon him an experience , sacred, strange, wondrous, which quickens within him, lays hold on him, becomes his very being. Even those who are the children of science and reason must submit to the fact of spiritual experience that is primary and positive. We may dispute theologies but we cannot deny facts. The fire of life in its visible burning compels assent, though not the fumbling speculation of smokers sitting around the fire. While realisation is a fact, the theory of reality is an inference. There is difference between contact with reality and opinion about it, between the mystery of godliness and belief in God. This is the meaning of a secular conception of the State though it is not generally understood.
This view is in consonance with the Indian tradition. The seer of the Rig Veda affirms that the Real is one while the learned speak of it variously. Asoka in his Rock Edict XII proclaims: One who reverences ones own religion and disparages that of another from devotion to ones own religion and to glorify it over all other religions does injure ones own religion most certainly. It is verily concord of religions that is meritorious. Centuries later Akbar affirms : The various religious communities are divine treasuries entrusted to us by God. We must love them as such. It should be our firm faith that He blesses every religion. The Eternal King showers His favours on all men without distinction. This very principle is incorporated in our Constitution that gives full freedom to all to profess and practise their religious beliefs and rites so long as they are not repugnant to our ethical sense. We recognise the common ground on which different religious traditions rest. This common ground belongs of right to all of us as it has its source in the Eternal.
S Radhakrishnan
SAbid Husain in his Indian Nationhood and National Culture indicates the central characteristic of Indian culture as it has grown from its beginning to its present position... He argues that there has been a common spiritual outlook on life, to which various races and religions have made contributions . Indias cultural history of several thousand years shows that the subtle but strong thread of unity which runs through the infinite multiplicity of her life, was not woven by stress or pressure of power groups but the vision of seers, the vigil of saints, the speculation of philosophers , and the imagination of the poets and artists and that these are the only means which can be used to make this national unity wider, stronger and more lasting.
It may appear somewhat strange that our government should be a secular one while our culture is rooted in spiritual values . Secularism here does not mean irreligion or atheism or even stress on material comforts. It proclaims that it lays stress on the university of spiritual values that may be attained by a variety of ways.
Religion is a transforming experience. It is not a theory of God. It is spiritual consciousness . Belief and conduct, rites and ceremonies , dogmas and authorities are subordinate to the art of self-discovery and contact with the Divine. When the individual withdraws his soul from all outward events, gathers himself together inwardly, strives with concentration, there breaks upon him an experience , sacred, strange, wondrous, which quickens within him, lays hold on him, becomes his very being. Even those who are the children of science and reason must submit to the fact of spiritual experience that is primary and positive. We may dispute theologies but we cannot deny facts. The fire of life in its visible burning compels assent, though not the fumbling speculation of smokers sitting around the fire. While realisation is a fact, the theory of reality is an inference. There is difference between contact with reality and opinion about it, between the mystery of godliness and belief in God. This is the meaning of a secular conception of the State though it is not generally understood.
This view is in consonance with the Indian tradition. The seer of the Rig Veda affirms that the Real is one while the learned speak of it variously. Asoka in his Rock Edict XII proclaims: One who reverences ones own religion and disparages that of another from devotion to ones own religion and to glorify it over all other religions does injure ones own religion most certainly. It is verily concord of religions that is meritorious. Centuries later Akbar affirms : The various religious communities are divine treasuries entrusted to us by God. We must love them as such. It should be our firm faith that He blesses every religion. The Eternal King showers His favours on all men without distinction. This very principle is incorporated in our Constitution that gives full freedom to all to profess and practise their religious beliefs and rites so long as they are not repugnant to our ethical sense. We recognise the common ground on which different religious traditions rest. This common ground belongs of right to all of us as it has its source in the Eternal.
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