Miscellaneous - Religion   

Unity in diversity

CHENNAI: The majority of people divorce God from this world by consigning Him to His divine realm. Such a schism is totally at variance with the scriptural teaching that the entire creation is a manifestation of the Absolute. An oft-quoted verse of Tirumular uses the analogy of an elephant made of wood to offer insight into the unity behind the diversity that is evident to sensory experience. A person seeing a wooden elephant is at first frightened to go near it but after he is told that it is made of wood, he overcomes his fright instantly. Similarly, man experiences only plurality as his senses and mind are attuned to experience only diversity.

In his discourse, Swami Omkarananda said knowledge of the non-dual nature of the Self (Atman, Brahman) alone would dispel the primordial ignorance that was responsible for deluding the mind. Lord Krishna has clarified in the Bhagavad Gita: “There is nothing else besides Me, Arjuna. Like clusters of yarn-beads formed by knots on a thread, all this is threaded in Me.” The man of wisdom (Jnani) therefore looks at all with the same eye as he beholds the Supreme Being in everything. The opening Mantra (verse) of the Isavasya Upanishad declares this truth unequivocally and implores man suffering in bondage to protect himself by detachment. Why detachment? Attachment to the objects of the senses is bound to become deep-rooted when ignorance blinds an individual to his spiritual nature. Only by identifying with the Self, which is eternal, can attachment to the body-mind-intellect be overcome.

There are two aspects to protecting oneself from worldly sorrows. The first is through prayer seeking God’s grace and the second is through Self-knowledge. When wisdom dawns it will become apparent that there is no need to protect as there is no fear of another because one becomes rooted in the Self, which is non-dual. The first verse concludes by saying, “Do not covet anybody’s wealth.” This is a basic requirement for spiritual life.

A spiritual seeker should learn to live with the barest minimum as otherwise the whole life will become an endless obsession for material acquisition and pandering to bodily comforts.

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