An Overview of Spirituality

By Chinmoy Biswas

Understanding different aspects of spirituality is the objective of this short book. So far no simple book is available, on its different aspects, that allow a person to get an overview of the subject in one place. Many books highlight how the writer himself was benefitted in his Sadhna, or represent the interest of one ‘school of thought’ or the sect the writer belongs to. It is very natural to be biased by one’s own religion, or group, or outlook, or experience and then not include other’s views in writings. But it does not take us to a substantial objective. We want to progress overcoming all such tendencies.
We need an overall picture of the process for this progress. Some books give so much detail of some issues that it becomes difficult to get a total picture easily. Whatever we do, we should always follow a rational and logical approach. In fact, this is also a teaching of Vedanta Philosophy. Some have learnt to be rational, live with a positive attitude, have translated experiences to wisdom, converted weakness to strengths and then have stopped being judgmental towards self, or towards others, or towards teachings of other sects we do not belong to, or towards the teachings available in different literatures. They are progressing in the right direction in terms of spirituality.
Sadhna makes one evolve into something better, considering both spiritual and non-spiritual aspects in a person. Spirituality develops with Sadhna. So Sadhna is part of the objective in this book. We want to know which Sadhna method should be chosen out of many such methods available.
While writing this overview, I faced several dilemmas. One, which topics were to be included and what need not be? All issues of spirituality may not be equally important. Second, where to start the subject and where can I stop? It may not be necessary for all to go into each and every detail. Thirdly, if I make the discussion short, will it remain interesting and useful to the reader? I have decided to be ‘short’ and ‘simple’, to get a picture of the subject as a whole quickly; not get lost in its details or the vastness of information in the field, or get stuck elaborating details, though I wanted to include all important issues of spirituality and Sadhna.
Developments will happen in modern science, especially in subjects like, sociology, psychology, group dynamics and other behavioural sciences, and they will ultimately find that the Science of Spirituality is complementary to and even encompasses many things in behavioural sciences. Then we shall understand our need for growth better.
The deepest potential of any human being is spiritual in nature. It has to grow naturally within us, as a tree grows or flower blooms in the garden. This growth is in the domain of ‘being’, not in getting importance, wealth or information. Through Spirituality we distinguish easily between what we need, what we want and where our effort is leading us. In Spirituality there is a possibility of living a life we need to, as a source of love, source of knowledge, source of honesty, source of truth, source of vitality, source of impartial choices, while interacting honestly with others without inhibition. This leads to the best potential of human development.
Everything good flows from the primary qualities present in the soul. There are several such qualities and love is one of them. Human virtues are love in action. If you know the Ultimate, i.e. ‘The God’, all happiness flow from there, all peace flow from there, all knowledge flow from there, all strength to take action flow from there, all human values flow from there, proper analysis to take correct decision flow from there. This knowledge is spiritual knowledge, and ultimately it will manifest in total liberation of the human being. This book attempts to guide in taking the first step.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Chinmoy Biswas
• Release date: Feb 26, 2014
• ISBN: 9781311774880

Chinmoy Biswas

Author, Chinmoy Biswas, was born in 1944 and grew up in the beautiful countryside of Bengal. After completing his Aeronautical Engineering from IIT Kharagpur, his work as an Aeronautical Designer was an exploration and application of the known properties of physical matter. It was a period devoted to his family and the worldly life.His career facilitated his travel to different places in India as well as abroad. He spent a number of years in the West, North, and South India, imbibing the ethos of the regions. Seeds of Spirituality planted in early childhood, made him seek answers to problems he saw everywhere. After retirement, he submerged himself in his studies on Spirituality. He has presented talks and led discussions on the topic, at home and in the United States of America. He believes the answers to all our problems lies in making Spirituality a part of our life, by inculcating the values of ancient India.He is a widower and loves to spend time with his grandchildren. When in India, he resides in Chennai and Bangalore. In the US, he stays near San Francisco.

Book preview

Foreword

I have been reading different books related to Religion, Spirituality and Meditation for many years now. For the last eight years I have practiced Meditation as per the guidance of ‘Sahaj Marg’ of Sri Ram Chandra Mission. But I have not come across a book that covers all aspects of Sadhna and Spirituality in one place. I felt that all I have learnt so far could be compiled in a book giving a quick total picture on Indian Spirituality, for anybody interested on the subject. Hence this book is attempted.

Spirituality is forgotten in society today and the consequence has not been good. People are suffering from emotional, attitudinal, and psychological problems. Something needs to be done to inculcate spiritual values and practices, so that people’s outlook changes to a healthier perspective. I do not know to what extent this book will be useful for that, since most people do not take interest in spirituality or books like this. But I think, if they read this book, they will understand its importance and develop interest in it. I also want to request those who are rational and positive to think over, discuss and spread messages of this subject. There is literature on this subject as noted in the pages. Many books are written for some specific purpose of a particular group or a sect, or written to highlight a specific method of Sadhna. So they go into a lot of details to highlight some areas, but do not cover some essentials areas of spirituality and Sadhna. Quite often one school of thought contradicts the opinion of others. So a short book with positive approach is felt necessary.

Have you ever wondered what the purpose of your birth is? If you have, then that is a welcome sign. This is a spiritual question, and you are progressing in a right path. There are many issues and many questions. All such issues are covered in ancient Indian books like Upanishads, and I have discussed some of their messages here. Issues have been taken up in the form of questions also. It will be better that you answer the questions based on your own self-enquiry. Why? Understanding and spiritual experiences require your own effort.

Before I go into the subject, I must thank all my friends who had engaged me time to time on spiritual discussions and thus helped me in this subject.

Author

Bangalore, India.

ToC

Introduction

Understanding different aspects of spirituality is the objective of this short book. So far, no simple book is available, on its different aspects that allow a person to get an overview of the subject in one place. Many books highlight how the writer himself was benefitted in his Sadhna, or represent the interest of one ‘school of thought’ or the sect the writer belongs to. It is very natural to be biased by one’s own religion, or group, or outlook, or experience and then not include other’s views in writings. But it does not take us to a substantial objective. We want to progress overcoming all such tendencies.

We need an overall picture of the process for this progress. Some books give so much detail of some issues that it becomes difficult to get a total picture easily. But all are involved in some Sadhna, and all their views and Sadhna Methods can be useful for us in some way or other. So there is no harm in listening to their views as well. But we must understand where we are going, and where we are getting bogged down during that process.

Whatever we do, we should always follow a rational and logical approach. In fact, this is also a teaching of Vedanta Philosophy. Some have learnt to be rational, live with a positive attitude, have translated experiences to wisdom, converted weakness to strengths and then have stopped being judgmental towards self, or towards others, or towards teachings of other sects we do not belong to, or towards the teachings available in different literatures. They are progressing in the right direction in terms of spirituality. That is also our approach.

Sadhna makes one evolve into something better, considering both spiritual and non-spiritual aspects in a person. Spirituality develops with Sadhna. So Sadhna is part of the objective in this book. We want to know which Sadhna method should be chosen out of many such methods available. A book like this is expected to be useful for that.

While writing this overview, I faced several dilemmas. One, which topics were to be included and what need not be? All issues of spirituality may not be equally important. Second, where to start the subject and where can I stop? It may not be necessary for all to go into each and every detail. Thirdly, if I make the discussion short, will it remain interesting and useful to the reader? I have decided to be ‘short’ and ‘simple’, to get a picture of the subject as a whole quickly; not get lost in its details or the vastness of information in the field, or get stuck elaborating details, though I wanted to include all important issues of spirituality and Sadhna. But some of the interesting Sadhna Methods like Shivyog and Shaivagam Tantra get only passing mention here. Probably that elimination can be acceptable when the objective is to get an overall picture.

Very few achieve the spiritual growth talked about in old Indian books. Question automatically comes up, ‘Has anybody achieved enough growth through western methods?’ That answer is not, ‘Yes.’ There can also be debate on what ‘enough growth’ would mean. Rationalists say, ‘There is no end to growth.’ Still the extent of growth achieved in the west should be understood. Has anybody gone very deep into this subject? Those who have studied the subject also are not fully clear about where to look for the growth: in the material domain, in the domain of exploiting the resources, in the domain of information, in the domain of commerce, in the domain of technology, in the spiritual domain or in what area.

I expect further developments will come up as part of modern science, especially in subjects like, sociology, psychology, group dynamics and other behavioral sciences, and they will ultimately find that the Science of Spirituality is complementary to and even encompasses many things in behavioral sciences. Then we shall understand our need for growth better.

There are many excellent books in English in the context of Indian Spirituality. All information given here is available in old Sanskrit Books, and those have many published interpretations and discussions. English books of Swami Vivekananda and Sri Aurobindo are available easily. But how many of us are using them? In the western world on the other hand, people have started taking interest in Indian thoughts, Indian methods of development, Indian Yoga, Indian Spirituality, Indian literature and Indian Ayurvedic Medicines. There have been new studies, research and realization world over in the spiritual domain in recent years, that tally with ancient Indian thinking. Through this overview, I hope to touch upon some prevailing controversies and misunderstanding without getting bogged down in details, but being useful to readers.

The deepest potential of any human being is spiritual in nature. It has to grow naturally within us, as a tree grows or flower blooms in the garden. This growth is in the domain of ‘being’, not in getting importance, wealth or information. Through Spirituality we distinguish easily between what we need, what we want and where our effort is leading us. In Spirituality there is a possibility of living a life we need to, as a source of love, source of knowledge, source of honesty, source of truth, source of vitality, source of impartial choices, while interacting honestly with others without inhibition. This is leading to the best potential of human development.

Everything good is flowing from the primary qualities present in the soul. There are several such qualities and love is one of them. Human virtues are love in action. If you know the Ultimate, i.e. ‘The God’, all happiness flow from there, all peace flow from there, all knowledge flow from there, all strength to take action flow from there, all human values flow from there, proper analysis to take correct decision flow from there. This knowledge is spiritual knowledge, and ultimately it will manifest in total liberation of the human being. And this is an objective.

One would ask, ‘What can I ultimately get by this effort?’ I have answered that later as concepts. But spiritual experience is essential. Experience cannot be obtained without Sadhna properly conducted.

One may ask many questions on issues that come up during Sadhna. For example, ‘What is reality?’ Can we find answers to such simple questions ourselves? Many do find it. Many such questions come up and many answers are found. The question on truth and reality comes up quite early in Sadhna. So we should talk on that now. Understanding reality is like, waking up and finding you are no longer dreaming. What you are seeing is truth. Realization of the ultimate truth is a ‘Pure Awareness’ in our consciousness. But truth is vast and we want to see the ‘Universal Truth’, which will lead to the ‘Ultimate Truth’ or God

Now-a-days ‘Traditional Methods of Sadhna’ are losing popularity. The four yoga methods advised in Geeta have remained popular. But all Sadhna methods are important and all can take us towards spiritual objective of ‘God-realization’. In the areas of ‘Character Building’ Indian literature available is little. On the other hand, there are many good western books on ‘Personality Development’ and ‘Character Building’; most of them best sellers. But we are not talking the same thing here in India. Our approach is different, though we find commonality in subjects. And we want to go beyond what is there in the jargon of management people or in western literature.

We have to understand how a person’s nature changes as spirituality improves in him. If there is no spirituality in us we think, ‘I am perfect, all the shortcomings are with those I deal with; and they are causing me troubles.’ Such thoughts do not contribute to progress. Our concern is to understand spirituality and people with spirituality. With little or no influence of spirituality, people try to improve themselves through education, through understanding, through Character Building and through doing good deeds. But they may not be aware of their spirituality. At this stage control of Mother Nature on us, called Maya, is also present and She does not want us to progress beyond this stage. This stage covers people who become effective in their profession and life. Then there are people who have developed ‘Soul Consciousness’ and have overcome the hold of Maya.

Soul consciousness is our natural objective; though our final objective is still beyond that. With Soul Consciousness our ego will reduce and our outlook will change. Then what happens to our efforts, achievements, values and ‘will to achieve’? This is interesting. Common man may not have any idea of this, as all of these will turn out to be illusion. Still we shall develop a tremendous urge to improve further. These we shall discuss later.

All should read this book, though it is mainly intended for people interested in spirituality and want an overview. The terminology of the original Sanskrit words used in English books was often spelled in different ways. Spelling used in this short book is taken from some such book, but may not match some other book. This may be kept in mind. Key-words are in italics where I felt readers can take further interest. I have written this mostly in the masculine or as if addressed to a man, but that is only for convenience of writing. All things are equally applicable to any feminine reader.

I got the information from different sources at different times, but the sources were not compiled properly at that time. So the bibliography given with this book, gives only the main books related to the subject that I read.

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The Situation Now

In this introduction we should try to understand our problems and background first. When we take up Sadhna many issues will come up. Let us talk of some of them in general here. First, what is the seeker’s perspective? Each one of us has a different perspective of looking at our life, depending on the stage of maturity we have reached during our journey of life. We have a specific opinion on what is good and what is not. My request to all is to go beyond that. Think what is important for us at not just this moment of time, but for any time; and understand why it is important. This will be useful to deal with the problem at hand, as well as to decide our future course of action.

Thinking over the problem is important. This is called ‘Manan’ in old Indian literature. This is an internal activity to understand the issues fully through analysis. This is an action. Not just thought. Thought without any involved action does not yield any result. So choose a method and start a Sadhna. Then look further to see what lies within us and beyond us. Think on our essential attitude, our origin, our purpose and final destination on this journey of life. This analysis will ultimately lead us to the understanding of self and God.

All of us have differences of opinion with others. That is OK, if we do not think them wrong or try to impose our point of view. We usually forget, our point of view is not necessarily the best, for if it were the best it would not need any boosting up. Any form of boosting or propaganda is unnecessary. When we are on the path towards God-realization we do not care what others think or talk about us.

We should not look at others through the prism of a demanding master or that of a critic; but through love, compassion, compatibility, responsibility towards each other’s welfare and understanding of each other, or being positive towards them. We should behave similarly towards all fellow human beings, whether related or not. Indian tradition considers these as necessary, tells us their importance and then guides our endeavor towards them. This is our duty. But if we look around we find this tradition is forgotten in present society in India. And probably that is the reason why interpersonal relationship, peace, harmony and social values are suffering in this country.

There are many types of disparities people face in society today: economic, educational, emotional, moral and spiritual. Disparities are the results of our wrong actions and wrong attitudes over a long time. And we are responsible for them. We have to be responsible for removing them through further positive actions. If we work towards that goal we give great service to people and improve our ‘Karmic Account’ as well. Do we understand this service and the responsibility part of our life? May be we do not! May be we shall understand that better after reading this book.

If we consider disparities in the global context, history tells us of many thinkers, social and political leaders who worked in the past to remove disparities. In the modern era we find most of them worked mainly on eradicating economic disparities. The concepts of market economy, socialism, state control etc. all of them have root in that thinking. Where approaches are different, solutions arrived at are different, though the problem is same. But could anyone solve the problems of people satisfactorily? No.

If we see ancient Indian literature, we do not find that much focus on economic disparities, but more on values, duties, service (Seva), moral and spiritual aspects in a person. Apparently people, especially the sages or the spiritually developed people, were happier with their simple living and high spiritual thinking. Lord Rama, as a king, was an exemplary ruler. Bhishma gave exemplary service to his king. We do not see personal economic concern in them. Probably we should not focus on economic disparities alone, instead broaden our outlook and look at all disparities together. May be they are all related. Then we have to understand that relation. This is part of a spiritual approach to the world problem.

May be we do not understand any type of service. We talked about looking at all through love, compassion and responsibility. This actually becomes a matter of service or giving service. It requires some soul-searching, why there is no attitude of service in our society today. The services we normally provide to people or even to our customers in India are not of the required quality. Also the same service is not given equally to all. There is differential treatment (bhed-bhav) meted to different people. Services are ‘Seva’, a method of Sadhna. Then why should there be disparity towards recipients? Service should always be done with total dedication. Our services do not represent the mentality which ancient Indian books talk about. It is surprising to remember that this is a country where ‘Atithi-devo-bhavo’ (serving a guest is divine) principle used to be followed earlier. That attitude is lost.

While talking of spiritual growth one would ask, ‘Does anybody achieve growth to the fullest extent?’ Yes, but very few do. There are several reasons for not growing. Firstly we do not have any idea to what extent spiritual progress is possible; even though old Indian literature has defined that possibility. We do not understand that possibility. We do not understand what Atma-Jnan means, what Brahma-Jnan means, what Moksha means, or what Nirvana means. We do not understand how these can be objectives. We do not know any spiritual objective, short term or long term. We do not know Bhakti, Prem, Shraddha, Nishtha, Anubhav, Upalabhdhi or any other Sadhna Terminology and their meanings. How can we include them in our thinking?

Secondly, clear knowledge on some of these requires more understanding, beyond the simple materialistic