Theory Is Not Enough: A person may read a lot of spiritual literature and be able to hold forth on religion, but that will not lead him to Self-realisation, just as one cannot reach the other bank of the river simply by reading a book on learning how to swim. He has to learn swimming by actually jumping into the water and practising it. Mere theoretical knowledge of spirituality is likely to give you dambha bhava or a false sense of superiority that can impede your progress towards the real goal. To attain your spiritual goal, you need to back theoretical knowledge with practice. Establishing a durable vairagya bhava or detachment is one of the most important practical exercises in spiritual pursuit. That does not mean leaving one’s home and family and going into the forest. Simply leaving home, but continuing to think about pleasures and family attachments is of no use in spiritual pursuit. Vairagya bhava can be established by gradually detaching oneself mentally, from the desire-driven world. For instance, you may have adopted vairagya but you could still be eating delicious food. You might not have initiated that action out of deep desire. It might simply have come about due to some external factors like a family function. Therefore, you are not quite enjoying that food in the sense of fulfilling a desire. Such detachment cannot come about overnight, nor should it be attempted as one, sudden, ‘big bang’ approach. For example, it will not work if one fine day you simply decide that you will henceforth consume only one meal. The reason is that your mind, with its long and deep conditioning, will rebel. So, vairagya bhava has to be established gradually, so that mind and body, both get used to the new regimen and even start appreciating the benefits of it. The seed of detachment sown in the mind grows into a spiritual plant, finally bearing the fruit of Self-realisation, the state of sat-chit-anand. The fruit of Self-realisation has no seeds and, hence, does not lead to any further proliferation of plants. All other seeds of worldly desires grow into plants bearing bitter, sour or sweet fruits of pain and pleasure. Moreover, these fruits have seeds that cause further proliferation of similar plants of desire. The other practical spiritual exercises consists of sadhana or practice, satsang or being in the company of seekers and reading of sadgranthas or religious books. This helps the seeker keep away from worldly thoughts, which will eventually lead to a firm establishment of true vairagya bhava in the seeker’s mind. True vairagya bhava has primacy of place in spiritual pursuit.
Posted on: Wed, 23 Oct 2013 05:10:00 +0000
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