Faith in God forms the very basis of all religious developments and has intimate relationship with Human Psychology. Despite this, nobody, not even the theists and scholars of Theology have given a universal definition of Thou. Each one of us has his or her own conceptions, realizations and understanding of God. This somewhat depends on our intrinsic make-up, training and environment of life and mental conditioning. Whatever be our imagination of His forms, if our faith is true and piet, our God certainly offers us immense love, courage and motivation to live with moral dignity. Understanding and absolute realization of - Who is God, Where and How is God?, has been the quest of all spiritual devotees, religious scholars, seekers of Nature, and other people since the origin of mankind. This type of questions, of fundamental importance in human life, reflecting the eternal inquisitiveness of human self, have been dealt by Pt. Shri Ram Sharma Acharya in this volume in most non-prejudiced, authentic and universally acceptable manner. The existence of the cosmic order of Thou, the reflections of omnipresent Supreme Consciousness and the scientific roles of faith and devotion, etc. have been excellently discussed by Acharya Sharma. He also analyses ancient scriptures and philosophical transactions on these topics in scientific light with rational logic - leaving no room for ambiguity, blind faith or misinterpretations. His in-depth knowledge and understanding of Human Psychology and his serene love for all beings empower his words with unique personal touch and spiritual charge which take his views to the inner cores of our hearts. His writings penetrate far beneath the surface of intellectual deliberations or philosophical expressions and enable us think, realize and feel through the deeper core of our sentiments, the truth in what he explains. The word God is referred as Ishwara in Sanskrit language. Literal meaning of this word expresses - That, whose glory is reflected in every direction, everywhere, in every component of Nature, within and beyond the limits of the cosmic whole. That whose piety, power and expansion is unlimited. Comprehensive decipheration of What is God? - is considered impossible for human intellect. HE exists every where. Every activity of Nature is governed by HIS universal laws. HIS discipline makes the existence of every thing - ranging from subtle energy flows to the infinite expansion of the cosmos, possible. The eternal order of times originates and ends in Thee. Time, Space and subtler as well as higher dimensions of existence are HIS expressions. The presence of God can be felt in every breath of vital force. The grand unification of all souls, the universal force of ultimate evolution of collective consciousness may be defined as THY soul - Paramatma. Because of our extrovert attitude, we usually search for the existence and expression of God in Nature. As the activities of Nature and its visible forms lie within the domain of our perception or have been deciphered through scientific and technological developments, we often tend to seek Thou presence by similar means and try to prove HIS existence by the scientific principles and logic known to us or with the help of some established theories acceptable to most people. But, such attempts hardly lead us to any conclusion. How could THAT which is - Omnipresent, Eternal, beyond the grasp of intellect, source of conscious, unconscious and super- conscious faculties, Self-existing Creator of - Nature, ecosystem, cosmos and all the tangible as well as the extrasensory forms of existence, be realized, explained or analyzed by materialistic means or by using the principles of yet incomplete domains of scientific knowledge?... When we are not sure of the ultimate goal of the ‘search of truth’ in Science, how can we apply the present developments of Science to elucidate the absolute truth? The best way, as discussed by the author here, to search for the existence of God - is to try realizing HIS presence in the deep cores of our own inner selves. In Acharya Sharmas words - If we ought to assign a definition to God, we may identify HIM as an absolute ensemble of - supreme kinds of virtues, divine tendencies of serene love, compassion and altruist service, piet sentiments, pure intellect and culmination of inner strength and morality. As the level and extent of these qualities increases in the individual self, the latter gets more and more illuminated by Godliness and the presence of God in the inner self becomes more real and transparent. The readers would find the devotional sentiments of rasovaisah - reflection of God in everything; Thou love for all beings; everything existing as per Thou will for expansion of eternal love - alive in the eloquent expressions of the author. At the same time, they would see that the reflection of the philosophy of Ayamatma Brahm - the soul is Brahm, the absolute, eternal, omnipresent, supreme manifestation of God - has also been discussed by him with equal ease and impact. He emphasizes that the overall refinement of personality - through sincere endeavors, gradually leading to - good conduct, adoption of high human values in day-to-day life, integrity of character, balanced attitude, elimination of ego and selfish desires, arousal of righteous intellect and pure sentiments of love and compassion, is the key to spiritual culmination of the self up to levels of Parama Hansa - Sthita Pragya, when, despite being an ordinary and normal person in worldly terms, one lives in the liberated state of absolute peace and beatitude. This is what is described by the author as meeting God or realizing Thou. In this divinely refined state of spiritual culmination, one realizes the truth of Jivo Brahmaiva Naparh - the individual soul and the Brahm are one originally. Acharya Sharma has justified the need of faith in God or in the presence of HIS eternal order and disciplines and warned that without its cultivation, the Charvaka type atheistic philosophy of - whatever is present, accessible and usable for selfish motives is true, or the so called dogmas of survival of the fittest would lead to social anarchy where might is right would be the law of the day and exploitation of the weaker ones and uncontrolled consumption of natural resources would become the honored principles of success. What would then preserve human-values or ensure the survival of humanity and precious life on the earth? He describes the universal message of Gita - sincere performance of duties leaving results in Gods hands - as the source of happy coexistence and ideal progress of all beings in all ages. The authors views would inspire the so called atheists or rationalists too to do little introspection and see the linkage of science, psychology, spirituality and theism in the new and truly realistic perspectives realizing the inevitable role of human sentiments in every dimension of life. His critical analysis also takes those people to tough task who spread spiritual misconceptions, emotional corruption, fundamentalism, illusions and superstitions in the name of God and religion. According to him, the path to reach Thou is unique and straight. There is no place for short cuts or jumps there. No ritual of mode of worship can ever lead to HIS realization without the refinement of self at physical (worldly), mental, sentimental and spiritual levels and without dedicating the talents, potentials, resources and sentiments to elevation of others. He considers the entire world as a manifestation of the existence of God and defines the sincere service and sacrifice for righteous development of the world, of all beings, as the ideal worshipof God... Acharya Sharma recommends an excellent Yoga Sadhana for overall refinement, righteous development and spiritual enlightenment of personality which is most suitable in today’s circumstances. It can be practised by every body along with daily chores of the duty-bond, busy schedule of life. This Pragya Yoga is based on practically implementable science of spirituality advocated by the author. It broadly comprises of three phased practice in daily life; viz., - simple spiritual practices of meditation and devotional prayers to adopt the divine virtues, the godliness subtly pervaded within and around us; Sadhana - ascetic attitude of self-restrain and control of thoughts, ambitions and actions to train oneself for an eminent and progressive life free from the malice of ego, anger, lust, and selfish attachments; and Aradhana - creative utilization of at least a fraction of ones time, potentials and resources for altruist service aimed at betterment of the human society. Regular contact - through personal interaction or through reading or discussions and contemplation - with the lives and works of great personalities and trenchant thoughts of authentic persons who live(d) for high ideals and welfare of all struggling against the adversities and hardships of life, provides excellent support in conditioning of the mind for the above practices. Gurudev Shri Ram Sharmas own life stands as a witness and shining example of how the dedicated adoption of, Sadhana and Aradhana leads to the arousal of divinity in human self. His vast knowledge, sagacity, super eloquence, simplicity, spirituality, selfless service of humanity, limitless love for all beings, greatness of character, do give a glimpse of divine incarnation in human life. The highly esoteric, inexplicable and unlimited topics pertaining to the existence and realization of God have been so perfectly dealt by him that the present volume could also serve as a guiding light and supporting linkage towards connecting the readers consciousness with the divine reflections of Thou. Courtesy : akhandjyoti.org
Posted on: Thu, 14 Aug 2014 10:14:29 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015