Hari
OM
Story-day is for cultural exploration, puraanas and
parables and finding out about leading lights in spiritual philosophy.
Tomorrow
is the feast day of St Ignatius of Loyola, a founding father of the Society of
Jesus, aka The Jesuits.
It
is interesting to note that all spiritual philosophies arise from one
over-arching desire in the hearts of Mankind; the desire to Know the Higher.
Not a single living creature which holds any amount of intellect at all fails
to ask itself at least once during its life, "who am I and why am I
here/what is the point of life?" Depending on the period of time, the
environmental and social circumstances and other such factors, rare individuals
expend just that little bit more effort in following through on the enquiry.
Sometimes it is from choice, other times by events which force the issue.
Always - always - when the story of
great spiritual masters are related, there is a common thread of their having
strong intellectual power; nearly always, they overcome early and perhaps
ongoing physical adversity; and no matter within which doctrine their search is
formed, the conclusions are drawn that one must be meditative, surrender one's
ego and then seek a way to bring the spiritual awakening into daily life. For
the common theme which comes through is that Mankind's nature has not changed
throughout history and therefore we are ever in need of guidance.
Almost
all of the great Masters of the Christian tradition emulated the pattern of the
more ancient Hindu tradition, by seeking to withdraw; usually to a mountain, a
cave, a forest and hut, generally with water nearby.
St
Ignatius was no different in any of this. One of the things which marks him out
from others might be his pre-conversion life; he was a soldier with
aristocratic heritage, he liked that life and the attention it brought from the
ladies… he was, by his own later admission, arrogant about his good looks and
abilities. That ego-nature did not automatically leave him, either. In his autobiography
he writes of the personal struggle against that continued arrogance which
merely translated from dreaming of victories and accolades in battle and
society, into dreaming of spiritual success and recognition.
The
ego is represented by the snake in Hinduism… and it is not a stretch to accept
that the serpent in Eden which enticed the eating of 'forbidden fruit' was
nothing but the ego becoming aware of itself, resulting in the tumble into a
separation from the Higher. The ego is a viperous thing, ready to strike at the
most unexpected time!
There
is plenty of information about the life and times of St Ignatius for you to
follow-up online; but some key points are worth placing here.
After
the battle of Pamplona, in which his legs were severely damaged, Ignatius was
forced to a lengthy recuperation during which time he had but two books as
company; The Life of Jesus and a book on saints. It was these which started his
'dreaming' in a different direction. He was sufficiently intellectually
observant, however, to note that the daydreams about God and saints tended to
lift his mood and stay with him, whilst the daydreams of 'derring-do' and
female adoration left him feeling empty and dissatisfied. Therefore, the former
became more regular and the latter began to drop away.
Over
time, this form of thinking pattern got formulated in his ideas about
"Consolation" and "Desolation", which figure prominently in
his spiritual exercises. For readers here, Consolation relates to the Vedantic
concept called Shreyas, whilst Desolation equates to Preyas. Thus,
independently and through diligent observation, using viveka (discernment) and
vairagya (self-discipline), Ignatius concluded that we are bedevilled by our
own weakness of thinking and that we can raise our lives from mundane to
meaningful by changing our way of thinking, thus making informed and better
decisions.
The
spiritual exercises require that one surrender to a teacher (aachaarya) who has
already traversed them. Whilst the handbook is available, its full import and
benefit is likely only to manifest through spiritual direction from one already
experienced and who can support and correct us where necessary.
Ignatius
advocated service to others as a direct means to, and consequence of, high spiritual
life.
He
came to understand "God" as being personal and imminent - a God who
is within us at all times and also within all other life, whatever form it
takes.
Ignatius
kept a spiritual
diary in order to aid his self-observation and undertook a daily regimen of
'review' (the examen) in which the day's events were recalled and noted and
learned from. This to be accompanied by prayer for improvement and for a better
tomorrow.
To
live life simply and effectively, devoted to the Lord, having His Name forever
in one's heart and seeking to emulate the acts of Jesus in the service of one's
fellow human beings, is the essence of Ignatian spirituality. In this, we find
once again the similarity with Vedanta rather than the differences.