THE WEEK 30 DEC 2007

BEST OF THE WEEK • SILVER JUBILEE SPECIAL • DECEMBER 30, 2007

SPIRITUALITY

BY SADGURU

God; we have a snake God. We have flying ones, creeping ones and crawl- More than ing ones, because we foresaw all the problems that may arise in future. It is a very wise culture. This culture has gone into the depths of the human being and looked at it as a science, a mere belief created methods to evolve a person into his ultimate nature. It is not that The spiritual ethos in India is not about other cultures have not looked at it, but no other culture has looked at it belief systems, it is about practices with the kind of depth and under- standing as this culture has. This is one culture, which has not crystallised any belief system as such. ome time ago, I was speak- only telling you a joke." "It doesn't Each individual has the right to cre- ing to a group of people in matter. You said, 'Him'. Do you ate his own God and relate to what is Nashville, Tennessee, and believe God is a man?" Now these beyond him as he is capable of doing I was telling them a joke. women were arguing, "Why can't it. Because of this, you can worship In the joke, I just referred God be a woman?" it in stone form, in animal form, in Sto God as 'Him'. Immediately a few This problem only exists in the bird form, in the form of a tree, or in ladies stood up and said, "Do you western world. In India we have a a formless way, or not worship at all. believe God is a man?" I knew where man God; we have a woman God; we There is no question of anyone being this was going, but I said, "See, I'm have a cow God; we have a monkey a heretic here, so there is no question BEST OF INDIA THE WEEK • SILVER JUBILEE SPECIAL • DECEMBER 30, 2007

Even among the poorest peasants, the fundamental spiritual ethos is present. It has slowly seeped into every human being who is born here.

of persecution. The culture does not this culture, is on his own. He cannot ited India, he had a good guide who prescribe any particular beliefsystem say, 'I am doing this because God said took him to many places, and he met as such. A certain gentleness had set- this. God is telling me this, God is tell- many people. He said, "Anything tled into the land and the culture; this ing me that.' Because of that, a certain that can ever be done either by man was engineered by the enlightened gentleness flowered in this culture, or God, has been done in this land." ones in the past to ensure the basic but when it was treated as weakness When it comes to an inner possibility, skeleton of the culture can never be by outside forces, the culture had to the way this culture has explored the misused in the name of the Divine. pay a price because it was mistaken as possibility of how a human being can Individual people misuse many weakness and they were exploited. be, nowhere else this has been done. things, but it will never be empow- One person who really gave the Always, in this culture, God is not ered by the Divine or divine sanction. best compliment to this nation and the highest goal, mukthi or liberation Whatever misuse anybody does in culture is Mark Twain. When he vis- is. Liberation means freedom: free- dom from prejudice, freedom from fear, freedom from lethargy, freedom MILESTONES 788-820 AD: Adi Shankara, from mortality, freedom from death, the founder of the Advaita school freedom from everything that is. If 1700-1100 BC: Rig Veda, the oldest of of thought, born in Kalady, Kerala the four Vedas, was written during this that focus is recreated or reinstated period in the culture and everybody strives 1469: Guru Nanak, the founder of for that, physically and especially Sikhism, a monotheistic faith, born in intellectually, then people can func- 6th century BC: Prospering of the Char- Talwandi (Pakistan) vaka school of philosophy tion effortlessly. May 6,1542: Jesuit missionary St Fran- 525 BC: The birth of Mahavira, who cis Xavier arrived in Goa to fetch souls The spiritual ethos in India is not about outlined the doctrines of Jainism for Roman Catholicism belief systems, it is about system- atic practices. This has sharpened 563 BC: The spreading of Buddhism in 1829: Sati banned by the mind and body in a certain way, India Sir William Bentick which is paying-off even now after 3rd century BC: Unification of the na- 10 to 12 generations of extreme pov- 1875: , the reformist tion by Emperor Ashoka, who spread erty. This is one of the reasons why Hindu organisation, founded by Swami Buddhism across the country while the rest of the world is strug- Dayanand Saraswati gling with the IT revolution, Indians 400 BC-1000 AD: The golden age of 1893 September 11: Swami Vive- go through it effortlessly. Hinduism kananda addressed the Parliament of It is very clear that if the amount of Religions at Chicago inequalities that exist in our society 52 AD: St Thomas the Apostle landed at had existed in another country, there Kodungallur, Kerala 1966: The International Society would have been large-scale violence for Krishna Consciousness was and unrest. When I travel in Europe, 644 AD: Malik Dinar and companions founded by Bhakti Vedanta Swami where generations of people have hit the Malabar coast with the message Prabhupada of Islam known affluence, the level of mel- BEST OF INDIA THE WEEK • SILVER JUBILEE SPECIAL • DECEMBER 30, 2007

ancholy and joylessness in people's upheavals in this land. But, that part faces is tragic. But when I walk into is beginning to wear off; time we took a tribal village here, in spite of their TRIVIA care of it. utter deprivation materially, you can Today, we have enough money, see how joyful their faces are. Even Hindus constitute 13 per cent of the enough food, enough resources, if they are hungry and their children world's population. In India, 80.4 per enough technology to ensure that malnourished, these people still cent of the population follow Hinduism the whole population on the planet retain their balance—there is some lives well. It is just that some key sense of contentment. 300 crore rupees Is the estimated people have to make up their minds. That is because even the poorest annual income of Tirupati temple in If the powers that be are touched peasant in this country, even if he Andhra Pradesh, the richest temple in by genuine spirituality—a non-reli- the world. It is the second most visited does not know any formal spiritu- gious, non-denominational spiritual place of worship after the Vatican ality, has the fundamental spiritual process, a scientific spiritual pro- ethos in him. It has slowly seeped into According to Hindu belief, believers cess—they can change the world in a every human being who is born here. should abstain from alcohol, onion, very short time. This is also the reason why India is beef and garlic, as they are barriers to In these thousands of years of one of the least policed countries in spiritual growth. Milk, curd, yoghurt human history, the enlightened have the world—the per capita number and butter increase spiritual purity always existed, in every generation, of policemen in the country is much but they have always been a very lower than in most countries. The Attukal Pongala, a religious festival small minority. Their work, their in Thiruvananthapuram district, is the consciousness, their presence have If you take our freedom struggle for biggest gathering of women in the definitely left its impact on human- world. Interestingly, men aren't allowed example, never before has any con- ity in so many ways. Still, the affairs to participate in the festivities queror ever been forced out in a non- of the world never came into their violent manner. It was only by using 2.2 million Bahais are there in India hands. They opened small windows spirituality that for people to have a new vision, to managed to inspire millions of peo- Religious leader Sri have a new understanding, to have the ple to come out peacefully—through has 6 million followers wisdom of the beyond, but the doors which we gained independence for of the world were never manned by this nation. Lord Vishnu, the deity of Thiruchirap- them. It has never been so. Only once in the history of human- pally temple, has a Muslim consort, We would like to see in the future ity such a thing has happened, and who is worshipped as Tuluka Nachiyar that the people who manage the without a basic spiritual flavour in affairs of the world are also enlight- Lord Ayyapa of Sabarimala is supposed the culture, it could not have been to have two friends—a Muslim named ened. Making this happen is some- achieved. The spiritual ethos of the Vavar, and St Sebastian, a Catholic thing Indian spirituality can do. country is a fundamental reason why saint The writer is a spiritual teacher and there have been no major violent founder of Isha Foundation.