The Hindu : Miscellaneous / Religion : Strive for liberation

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Dec 29, 2004

Miscellaneous

Miscellaneous - Religion

Strive for liberation

CHENNAI, DEC.29 . Life in this world is uncertain and no one can be sure of what will happen the next moment. When calamities strike closer home it shakes one's complacency. But, the greatest wonder as Yudishthira observed in his reply to a question raised by the god of death (Yama dharma) who had come in disguise as a Yaksha is that even after seeing people die every day one goes about life as though one is immortal. Is it not incumbent then on every individual blessed with human birth to utilise it for what it is intended (liberation from bondage)? Scriptures and saints do not tire stressing how rare it is to be born as a human being and hence the opportunity must be used for manifesting man's spiritual nature and not frittered away in material pursuits.

In his discourse, Swami Nishtatmananda said a person desirous of realising the goal of liberation from bondage must take up the spiritual quest consciously. The effort in this direction must be sustained with conviction. The scriptures are not dogmatic about this goal and they reiterate that God can be experienced for oneself. The Katha Upanishad illustrates through the example of Nachiketa the possibility of human progress from the finite to the infinite, from death to immortality and from ignorance, which is the root of bondage to awareness of the Self, which liberates.

In spiritual life a seeker may not be able to see God face to face to be certain about his progress; just as a student doing mathematics has to solve a problem by proceeding step by step, so also should an aspirant follow the path shown by the masters as they speak from experience. Only after all the desires relating to this world and the higher worlds are overcome and the accumulated Karma of the previous births exhausted is it possible to enter the gateway to the Self (Atman).

This Upanishad describes the different stages of spiritual progress and the corresponding experiences, which depend on the intensity of effort. The vision of God on spiritual awakening will destroy that Karma which has not yet started giving result in this birth. After the spiritual experience the "I" becomes pure (rid of ego) and remains only to be devoted to God or contemplate on the Self. Nachiketa was not swayed by the pleasures offered by Yama and pointed out that man's desires cannot be satisfied; he persisted in his query till Yama was convinced of his sincerity who then revealed the highest wisdom to the young boy.

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