ADVENTURES IN ADVAITA VEDANTA...

Adventures in Advaita Vedanta, the philosophy and science of spirit. We are one you and I; are you curious why?..


Faith, Hope, Charity

Hari OM
'Text-days' are for delving into the words and theory of Advaita Vedanta.

On Wings and Wheels is the publication we are delving into currently. It takes the form of a series of Q&As from devotees to HH Pujya Gurudev Swami Chinmayananda. There are many sections and subsections to this book - not all will be given, but it is hoped that the general thought-flow will not be broken for those omissions. To obtain the full picture and essence of the discussions, do consider attempting to purchase the text from the link above; it is currently only available from India.

General Social Consciousness.

Q - Swami-ji, out of feeling for God, is it that a sense of duty arises for others?
A - be it a feeling for God or for any goal higher than oneself. The higher the goal or Love, the more beautiful will the action be. It is best if it is devoid of the sense of duty; "I love my family therefore I do it" has about it a sense of sacrifice (possibly martyrdom!) and, despite the word and presence of love, the act becomes selfish. The sense of "I am doing…" If the action is motivated by concern for society, a larger love, the action is of a higher order; there needs to be that idea of doing for God and not for self or any individual, only then can it be said we are truly serving our duty to others in the name of something higher. That particular, social, duty sees need and serves it regardless of who the other is - they may even be 'enemy', but still we will serve in need, because that is what higher principles require of us. We do not necessarily have to Love the focus of that service, but understand that the duty to the higher is being served. That is to say, emotional concepts of love are not required in order to carry out one's duty. Love of the Universal kind, however, must be present for one to have a sense of duty in the first place. Love for God cannot be restricted to That alone; it expresses as Love for the community, country and so on.

Q - suppose a man obeys a religious commandment that one should give charity and he does, but not because he feels any sympathy; would it not be better to give out of pity rather than just duty?
A - pity is a sentiment, a cheap emotion. To act on that emotion is not carrying out a proper duty of service - it falls back to being selfish, a salve for oneself and not properly for the benefit of the target of that pity. We already know how to love human beings but we don’t - we only love ourselves! ...When an individual enters service in social or national basis, without surrendering the ego to a higher altar, that one does not always serve in true cooperative spirit… despite having many who are working for the uplift of their communities and countries, we find that the world is still far short of peace, plenty and prosperity; all too often it is discovered that the systems set up to help society fail it miserable, either at the individual level of corrupt persons, or at the organisational level, no persons fully taking responsibility and always the talk is of the cost. Financial concerns, whether by corruption or otherwise, affect the exercise of duty towards society. No matter how noble any individual may be, unless they act individually, taking responsbility and with the Higher to the forefront of their mind and intention, it all fails to serve, in fact.

[This is a very concatenated version of several Q&As in the session, but none of the import has been lost, it is hoped. Simply put, the essence of service ought to be without expectation for the ego-self; the service may still benefit others in the moment, but in terms of ethics and spirituality, the individual is demeaned if they do not attend to the purity of their intention for carrying out a duty or service.]