Posted on: 09 Apr 2007
When the child cries for milk, the mother does not mistake the child for its desire for milk saying that love should be without desire. The same mother (if wise) will find fault with her grown up daughter asking for her ornaments because ornaments are not basic needs like milk. The wise mother will say that she will give the ornaments to the daughter only after her death. But the same mother will not say that she will give the milk in her breast to the child after her death because the dead body cannot give milk and moreover the child cannot wait for the milk for a long time. Similarly, God will not mistake a pure soul asking for the basic needs of life, especially when the soul is participating in the divine service. For a mother the cry of the child is needed because the mother is not always omniscient like God. But God is omniscient and knows the basic requirements of the devoted soul and will give the basic needs even without the soul’s cry. Yet, the mother experiences love in giving milk to a crying child. Similarly, God experiences love when you cry to God asking Him to grant your basic needs. There is no necessity for crying to God but after all the crying gives the experience of love. Moreover, the soul should not think that God would automatically grant his basic needs like the salary given by the employer in return for the employee’s service. In the case of God, the service to God itself is the salary and there cannot be an additional salary for accepting the salary!
Nivritti (Spiritual field) is quite opposite to Pravritti (Materialistic field). When the soul is pure and deserves a favor, God desires that the devotee ask Him like an innocent child so that He can enjoy the love. God takes pleasure in fulfilling the desire when the child asks for it. A child crying for milk is not equal to a prostitute crying to snatch away your property, since property is not a basic need. A fool does not distinguish between basic needs and property. A foolish mother will give away all her ornaments to her daughter like the milk from her breast. Then she will end in trouble because the son-in-law will force the daughter to kick out her mother, since the mother’s ornaments are already in their possession. When the devotee is in the service of the divine mission, praying to God for basic needs is not wrong because the basic needs are essential to maintain the body and the family. Such a request is not like the extra worldly desires and it is in fact a part of the divine mission alone. Jesus asked God to favor Him on several occasions but each favor was a part of the divine mission alone.
Misery, the Real Preacher
By begging to God for food, the inherent traces of ego, induced through the Advaita philosophy will also disappear. God also tastes the sweet love in such prayer. If the soul is really God, it will not be affected by the misery in anyway and moreover it will enjoy the misery with more vigor since misery is not available in the upper world. By self-analysis you may detach from the misery but that much is not sufficient to declare the self as God. The characteristic of God is not detachment to misery but it is the entertainment in misery with more interest. For a soul, even detachment is not possible for a long time and the soul suffers with depression. Then, where is the question of enjoyment of the misery for which God comes down with a lot of interest in misery?
Totapuri was an Advaita philosopher and gave a long speech to Shri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa regarding the unreality of the world. One day he got a terrible pain in the stomach and his self-attainment was not firm for a long time. Unable to withstand the pain, he tried to kill himself but even the suicide-attempt failed. Then he realized that his soul is controlled by God’s power and is not the ultimate controller. Then the pain disappeared immediately. The soul develops ego during its lifetime by helping other souls. The ego is the most dangerous snake that enters the self without your notice. The ego hides itself in the subconscious state of the mind and you will feel that you are not egoistic at all. It is like the first stage of cancer, which is generally not noticed. This hidden ego is smashed when you kneel before God on your four legs and beg for the basic necessities. The saint practices this by begging for food from householders so that the concept of donor shall vanish. God alone is the ultimate donor.
Kunti asked the Lord for difficulties so that her devotion to God may improve more and more. She was the first soul to recognize the difficulties as the real preachers of devotion to God. The second soul was Myself who asked God to create problems. You know I did long prayers to Lord Shiva to grant difficulties so that My divine knowledge and devotion improve more and more. God was astonished in these two cases since no soul requested God for difficulties so far since creation! As a soul, My devotion to God improved tremendously during the difficulties. As God, I enjoyed the difficulties in this world, which are not at all possible in the upper world. You can take Me in whatever way you like.
Correct Context of the Three Philosophies
God and soul are the two components mixed homogeneously to form a single phase called the human incarnation. As the single phase I can call Myself as soul as well as God. Two metals acting as components are homogeneously mixed to form a single phase called as an alloy. Gold and copper mix freely to form the single-phased commercial gold. As a phase it is one but as components it is two. These two aspects are Advaita and Dwaita. Gold is the major component and copper is the minor component. This is Vishishtadvaita, in which God is treated as the major component (Angi or Sheshi) and the mixed soul is treated as the minor component (Anga or Shesha).
Please note that the most important point in these three schools of philosophy is: These three schools are dealing only with the human incarnation (alloy) and not God and any general soul, which are obviously different and separate. If you keep gold and copper side by side, there is no debate because they are clearly seen as two different and separate items even by a small kid. These three schools deal only with God mixed with a selected soul (Son of God) and do not deal even with God and a liberated soul, who is very close to God. When the two items exist clearly and separately, there is no debate of whether they are one or two, even if they are very closely associated. But when those two items get mixed and appear as one, the debate of one or two or two-in-one comes into the picture. Shankara says that it [human incarnation] is one [God] because the devotee should worship the human incarnation as God alone without the idea of the soul. Even the commercial gold is called as gold because gold is the predominant component. The presence of copper is neglected. Without copper, gold cannot be ductile and cannot be made into a chain. Similarly, without the soul, God cannot be perceived and cannot be meditated upon. The angle of Shankara is the correct attitude for any devoted soul towards the human incarnation. But when God exits that soul [which was the human incarnation], the soul is no more God. Arjuna even cremated the human body of Krishna. When God left Parashurama, the latter was insulted. In such occasions the devotee should come to the concept of Dwaita of Madhva. By following the middle Vishishtadvaita, the devotee should respect the soul also since it is the minor component, which cannot be isolated from the major component. This path is Dwaita with the final effect of Advaita. Without knowing all this main essence and the basic contexts of these three schools, the followers are quarrelling with each other, applying a particular school in another context. The wrong context is the case of God and a separately existing soul, which are made the subject of these three schools. There is no debate in the case of two separate blocks of gold and copper even if they are very closely associated. When the context itself is gone, where is the debate, which is based on the wrong context? The fruits have fallen in the drainage and the quarrel was for the useless vacant basket!
Neglecting copper as a trace of impurity, Shankara treats the commercial gold as pure gold. The lady who wears the golden ornaments should think that the ornaments are of pure gold. Madhva says that the copper atom present in the commercial gold is not the atom of gold under any circumstances. This is also correct from the point of a scientist who analyzes the gold and studies the properties of gold and copper separately. The views of the lady and the scientist are quite different and both the views are correct in their own contexts. The view is based on the context and here the reference is very important. A devotee should treat the human incarnation as absolute God and serve God directly. Otherwise the very purpose of the human incarnation is lost. But at the same time, when the human incarnation exhibits properties of the human body and the human soul like birth, illness, hunger, human feelings, death etc., the devotee should become a scientist and must realize that God is beyond these properties. Sometimes the Lord exhibits these properties extensively to test your firm faith and devotion in Him. During such tests, you should realize Dwaita of Madhva and should stand firm in the tests. Both Advaita and Dwaita are essential like the two eyes, but you should not open both the eyes simultaneously in the case of the human incarnation. Depending on the context, you should open the corresponding eye.
Ramanuja maintains both these concepts together since He is the bridge between Advaita and Dwaita. Since gold and copper cannot be separated and isolated, it is Advaita. But gold is not copper and copper is not gold and therefore it is Dwaita. He treats the world, which consists of inert materials and souls, as the body of God. For a scholar, the body is like a shirt according to the Gita. The inert objects (Achit) and souls (Chit) are like different colored threads of the shirt. The world is like the blue color [attribute], which is an adjective (Visheshana) and God is like the flower which is the substratum (Visheshya) and both are inseparable according to Ramanuja. The inseparable aspect brings Advaita and the two separate items establish Dwaita. All this is only in the case of the human incarnation. There is no debate in the case of pure gold and pure copper.
Difference Between Similar and Same
God as the Creator of this world is untouched by the world and remains as pure gold. The world never touches God and stands as a separate scene (Drishya) and God (Drashta) is entertained by the self-imaginary world, which is like a cinema. The entertainment on watching the cinema (Drik) is only one aspect of the seer (Drashta). The seer is also listening to the dialogues of the cinema. Now from this angle, God is the hearer (Shrota) and the dialogues of the cinema are the heard (Shravya). The process of hearing (Shravana) is not the process of seeing (Drik). Therefore, awareness is only the process of knowing the object and it is not creating, controlling or destroying the object. The soul can know the object but cannot destroy, control or create the object. The soul can create, know, control and destroy its imaginary world. But in the actual world, the soul can just know the objects and neither create, control nor destroys the objects. Knowing the objects is the common point to both the actual and the imaginary worlds in the case of the soul or God. But the creation, maintenance and destruction of the actual world are not in the hands of the soul and are not common points. These three are only similar points. It means that as you create, maintain, and destroy your imaginary world, God also creates, maintains and destroys the actual world. It is a simile but Shankara expressesed it as a metaphor in the case of atheists to uplift them. The metaphor should be taken as a simile alone.
If a marriage-agent [matchmaker] says that the girl that he has found for you is a rose flower, it means that the girl looks like a rose flower. It does not mean that the girl is actually a rose flower. The soul and its imaginary world can be taken as the best simile for God and the actual world. The simile helps you understand the concept and at any time you should not think that the simile and actual concept are one and the same. A similar point is not a common point. Therefore, the creation, control and destruction of objects are the three points of similarity between the actual world and the imaginary world. God and soul are similar; not the same. The actual world and the imaginary world are similar; not the same. The only common point is that God and the soul (assuming that the soul is a perfect scholar) know the actual world and imaginary world. This common point cannot make God into a soul or the actual world into the imaginary world.
Purpose of Service to God
The Lord does not need your service in anyway for His work. He is only testing your attitude of sincerity in His work by taking help from you in His work. You should not think that He really needs your help. You should also not think that you need not help Him because He does not need your help. Both these are the two branches of ignorance. He is actually testing your extent of sacrifice towards Him and thus He does not need your help in reality. But based on this reality you should not withdraw your help to Him because He is testing your attitude and the extent to which you work for Him. When the examiner asks a question, the student should not think that the examiner is really ignorant about the answer and is in search of the answer from the student. The student should also not keep silent thinking that there is no need of giving an answer to the examiner since the examiner already knows the answer. Both these views of the student regarding the examiner are wrong. Neither did Rama need the help of the monkeys in the battle nor the monkeys kept silent, without helping Rama thinking that Rama does not require any help in reality. The reality is that Rama did not require any help and that the monkeys helped Rama to the best of their ability to prove their real interest in God.
Defects in Different Religions
The essence of all the religions is one and the same since the same Universal God has given it. The religions are different from each other because the religious leaders, who are human beings, create the material that surrounds the essence. The skeleton is one and the same and there is no difference in the skeletons of human beings. The difference lies only in the external materials covering the skeletons, which are flesh, skin etc. In these external materials, differences arose due to deficiencies. Suppose there are two students. One is weak in physics and the other is weak in chemistry. Each student mocks the other for the other’s deficiency. Therefore, deficiency is the root of difference and quarrels among religions. The reason for the deficiencies is the human brain that developed the external body of the spiritual knowledge. Therefore, the spiritual knowledge is the skeleton and the religion is its body. The deficiency in a religion can be removed by taking the merits of other religions. Every religion has deficiencies and the rectification of those deficiencies should be by taking from other religions, without any ego or jealousy. Do not think that you are without defects. Do not think that your parents have no defects. Do not think that your teachers and preachers do not have defects. Therefore, observe others and take the merits from anybody without prejudice. The blind thinking that your nation, your state, your district, your town or village, your caste, your family, your parents, etc., are the best or highest, should be eradicated from your brain. Always base your self on your analysis and commonsense from examples observed in the world. Your elders might have polluted the scriptures but this world is the best scripture written by God. This world-scripture is Universal without any color of any religion. You can develop the entire spiritual knowledge by observing this world and the scientific knowledge existing in the various examples or items of the world. No human being can pollute these. You must be scientific and analytical in your belief. Ignorant and clever religious elders always exploit blind belief.
Hinduism has two defects. The first is that all the rituals are not conducted in the mother tongue. The rituals involve hymns in Sanskrit. In the ancient days, Sanskrit was the mother tongue of the sages. They understood the meaning of the rituals and were very much interested in God. Every ritual explains about God alone, directly or indirectly. Today the rituals are like dead bodies without life. Their real aim and purpose is lost. Not even a trace of devotion is developed through any ritual. At least the priest should translate the hymns and should create interest in the ritual. If you observe the other religions, this defect does not exist because all their rituals are performed in their mother tongue. This is the reason for the sincere devotion in Christianity and Islam. Added to this, like ghee to the fire, the concept of only one present human birth in these religions has developed tremendous interest in God, due to fear. In Hinduism the belief of several future human births brought lenience towards spiritual field. If you allow the candidate to pass the examinations in several attempts, no seriousness can be developed. If you say that one has to pass the examination in a single attempt, the education system will be perfect. Observing the other religions, Hindus must rectify these two defects.
Christianity and Islam have their own defects. They should also rectify their defects by observing Hinduism. Selfishness, pathetic scenes and fear develop their belief in God. If you want to develop interest in God by saying that Jesus suffered for your sins and by showing the pathetic scene of crucifixion, it is not real and pure love. When you develop interest in Jesus since He suffered for your sins, your love for Him is only based on selfishness. Your love for Jesus should be based on His divine personality and knowledge, without any trace of selfishness. Similarly, these two religions try to create fear in the minds of human beings by mentioning about the permanent hell. Fear should not be the basis of the love for God. Love should be spontaneous and without any selfishness in a free atmosphere. The reason for this deficiency in these religions is due to the absence of metaphysics in the scriptures. Their scriptures mainly deal with the development of proper human behavior to balance society. Such scriptures are mainly dealing with ethics and not with the philosophy of God like the nature of God, path to please God etc.
The analytical development in the spiritual knowledge is not much seen in their scriptures. They have confined God to the path of Pravritti alone. Accordingly, God is simply an administrator bound by His own rules. He is just a judge to deliver the judgment and a jailer who jails the sinners. He is just a mechanical examiner, without any freedom or love for devotees. He cannot go beyond the rules of justice. Of course, all this is good for the initial development of human beings. Mere happy life in society is not sufficient because such a life is not eternal. The life after death should be also analyzed. Mere judicial procedure is not the ultimate to be known about God. The love towards God, the sacrifice for the sake of God, the concept of the contemporary human incarnation for the sake of His most beloved devotees etc., are points of higher importance than mere limitation to the petty family. The narrow view of limiting to the family alone is at best generalized to service to the society. Society is only a large family of your colleague-souls only. God is beyond society. You must transit from the service to family to the service to society and finally to the service to God. These three are the subsequent steps in ascending order.
These religions [Christianity and Islam] are mainly confining only to the first two steps and not to the third step. In the name of the third step, they are remaining in the second step (social service) alone. The basis for this deficiency is the lack of the concept of the contemporary human incarnation. They criticize the idol worship of Hinduism. But they are doing the same in another form in their churches and mosques. The exploitation of the devotees by priests is common to their religions also because the concept of the contemporary human incarnation is completely eradicated from the root in these religions. The selfish priests do not allow such a concept at all. This is what happened in the case of Holy Jesus. Hence, Holy Mohammad did not allow this concept for fear of such horrible jealousy towards the contemporary human incarnation. In Hinduism also the selfish priests oppose the contemporary human incarnation. However in Hinduism, this concept is at least partially alive since the Gita says that God will come again and again (Yada Yada hi—Gita) and that God will come in human form (Manusheem tanumashritam—Gita).