Hari
Om
'Freedays' are the 'gather our thoughts' days;
Q&As; a general review of the week so far…
From
our current, body-bound perspective of duality, we spend our lives in a
constant flow of questions and doubts with regard to the world and our
relationship to it. Vedanta divides the areas of doubt thusly;
जीव /jiiva; the individualised spirit. The
experiencer of the world in which arise all questions pertaining to that
individuality. "Who am I? What is the purpose of life? What is death? Is
there rebirth? Why is one happy while another is unhappy? Is fate more powerful
than self-effort?".. And so it goes on!
ईश्वर /Iishvara; God as individual. "Who is God?
Is there a God? Where
does He live - is there such as a 'heaven', if so where is it? Why did He
create this world? What is His form or is He formless? When, why and how does
He incarnate? Why no incarnation now, in such troubled times? Is there a gender
there?" et cetera.
जगत् /jagat; the world. "What is this world?
Who created it? When, why and how was it created? Are there such as 'heaven'
and 'hell'? Is it Real? Will it become worse day by day, or will it
improve?"
All
these questions, their variations and others are likely to have been asked by
all who finally reach the doors of Vedanta. Indeed, Vedanta might be likened to
Homoeopathic medicine. It is poorly understood, sometimes maligned, by those
who have not properly enquired and who have thought that its apparent
simplicity means it is worth little. The depth and scope is entirely missed.
Yet, just as there are those who come to Homoeopathy "as a last resort,
what harm can it do?", there are seekers who find their way (or are
directed by others) to Vedanta.
Not
everyone who comes to them will necessarily 'get' what is going on. If severe
inner barriers are present, then the medicine and the philosophy will certainly
be called as 'false'; in neither case is it that they are, but rather, the one
receiving has not been prepared to accept the healing contained in them. There
are those who come along specifically with intention of 'disproving'.
There
can be no sprouting in the earth which has become so dried and hardened it
repels the seeds which the farmer wished to sow.
As
with Homoeopathy too, there is a philosophy to suit all personality types.
Those who are ready for the highest truth which is present in the core of all
spiritual philosophies will find their way to it… or rather, the philosophy
will find them. It is a well-accepted truism that when the student is ready the
teacher will come!
Tomorrow
we shall look at a teacher from another mystical format, Sufism. Sufism is to
Islam what Vedanta is to Hinduism and Gnosticism is to Christianity. All who
ask the appropriate questions, with pure heart and intent to hear the answers,
no matter how hard that can be and the implications for change contained there,
will find their way to one or other of
these philosophies and, with patience, determination, respect and open hearts
and minds, will blossom wider than any lotus flower.
