Religions are great if we understand the principles very well.
All religions, they say, ”God is great.
God knows everything.”
But we continue to do a lot of things which are against the religious principles,
despite knowing the fact that He is all-knower.
I think Indian people, by and large,or most religious people
throughout the world are hypocrites.
If Buddha had to declare after Nirvana and fall at the feet of Yashodhara
begging for forgiveness, “Forgive me.
I left you.
I could have attained this nirvana even in a palace.” It says a lot, it
speaks volumes that we need not leave our house in search of God Realisation.
Our bhautik jivan - material life - and spiritual life can go together
without any incompatibility.
There is no incompatibility between a godly way and a materialistic way.
If I am earning with honest means, it is in tune with my divine purpose.
When spiritual life and material life at crossroads, then it creates
a lot of problems, ethical problems, and that creates a lot of guilt.
Best would be to integrate my spiritual life.
I watched my father from my early childhood.
He would wake up at 4 am, do his pooja.
In the house, we had a small little corner in our house where he would offer pooja.
After finishing that pooja, he would go to the temple and do
pooja all over again over there.
And I would always go along with him to the temple as a child and come home.
Again the same thing in the evening - aarti, some pooja,
deepam and bhajan kirtan.
Before going to sleep, again there will be some prayers.
So these things were going on.
Is there anything more we could have done?
Godly approach is never enough.
Even 24 hours are not enough.
When we do this with a wrong understanding, that creates the problem.
When we say, “God is antaryamin.
Ishwar antaryamin.” God is omnipresent.
He is everywhere.
If you argue on these two statements itself, we fall flat.
When we say, “God is antaryami”, meaning He is within.
But we start looking for him outside.
That is a religious approach.
So there is a mismatch between our philosophy and practicality.
When we say that He is omnipresent, why should I go anywhere?
It is not that I am against temples and holy places.
I am not.
But we are applying this futuristic spiritual condition in the present,
something that I would feel at the end of my spiritual career,
that I experience God everywhere.
That is the culmination of it.
Not only everywhere, but at all times in everything that I see.
But prematurely if I start doing this and say, “I feel the presence of God here.
Let me worship this, let me worship that over there.” I start
worshipping everywhere before time.
Then it is a problem.
Religions are great, if we understand the principles very well.
All religions, they say, “God is great.
God knows everything.” But we continue to do a lot of things which are against
the religious principles, despite knowing the fact that He is all-knower.
So we go against the theory of our practical life.
Spirituality is all about feeling the presence in ourselves, in actually trying
to honour that antaryami within ourselves and that's where meditation helps.
Even in Gita - people read Gita but they do not understand Gita too well.
At the end, when Lord Krishna shows Vishwaroopa to Arjun
and says, “Look, this is me.
This is my form which I have not shown to anyone, but to you only I am showing it.
You are my friend.”
At the end of it, Arjun asks Lord Krishna,“Being my
friend, you have shown me.
I am very thankful to you.
But what can others do, what can common people do?
How can they understand you and enjoy your beauty, your form, your divine
presence?” Then Lord Krishna tells one simple thing to him, “In order to pursue
me, in order to feel my presence, look myself in your heart.” It is a simple
prescription, but we have always looked for Him outside, which is unfortunate.
We don't even take his advice seriously, but we go on
reading without understanding.
Then it is a problem.
All of us, without exception, we follow religion because what if I don’t?