Fwd: Vedic Culture: Last Bastion of Deep Spiritual Truth

08-19-2002, 02:55 PM

>From: Srinandan (AT) aol (DOT) com >To: vaidika1008 (AT) hotmail (DOT) com >Subject: Vedic Culture:
Last Bastion of Deep Spiritual Truth >Date: Sat, 17 Aug 2002 11:32:33 EDT > >
Vedic Culture: The Last Bastion of Deep Spiritual > Truth > By Stephen Knapp
(Sri Nandanandana) > > Why would Vedic culture be called the last bastion of
deep spiritual >truth? It doesn't take much to understand, at least after a
little >investigation, that >the Vedic process of spiritual advancement
promotes individual freedom of >thought, complete liberty of inquiry, and the
privilege of independent and >personal development through one's own spiritual
experiences. This degree of >latitude for self-discovery is found in few other
cultures or spiritual >processes. > The fact is that the Vedic literature
consists of the oldest and most >complete spiritual scriptures available. It
contains more in-depth knowledge >of >the identity of the spiritual being and
its connection with the universe and >God >than most anywhere else. It provides
more information about the spiritual >domain, the characteristics of God and our
relationship with the Supreme. > Furthermore, the spiritual principles in the
Vedic system are universal, >meaning they can be applied in any time or place
in the universe. In fact, >even a >Christian, a Muslim, a Jew, or anyone can
understand his or her own religion >more deeply by investigating the Vedic
spiritual knowledge. > The Vedic system expects the individual to progress and
not merely stay >on the level of blind faith. The Vedic path does not rely on
faith or beliefs >alone, >but offers the methodologies that a person can use to
refine one's >consciousness. >Then he or she can personally perceive the higher
levels of reality and >spiritual >truths of which the Vedic instructions speak.
In fact, the many Vedic holy >men >are often those who have had various levels
of success in experiencing >aspects of >spiritual reality, and then can relay
that information to others. This is >also why >portions of Vedic philosophy are
expressions of one's spiritual experience, >followed by instructions enabling
others to reach that same experience in >perceiving the Absolute Truth. > The
Vedic process allows full freedom to investigate spiritual matters >and >for
one to ask all the questions that may come to mind, without restrictions >or
the >possibility of being called a doubting person or a blasphemer. The Vedic
>approach knows that the Absolute can be perceived in different ways, thus the
>Vedic system accommodates this and allows for the individual to pursue the
>level >of Truth that he or she wants to perceive. The Vedic path also makes no
>restrictions on our right to use whatever resources we can to help ourselves
>understand our spiritual nature. This it is why Vedic followers can look at
>any >religion and find truth in it. > The Vedic system also acknowledges that
we all have a unique >relationship with God, and that this does not depend on
the approval of a >church, >an institution, or a cleric or priest. It is
eternal. The Vedic process >merely >provides the means or methodologies by
which we can awaken that relationship >and the awareness of our spiritual
identity. By this approach, we stimulate >our >own perception of spiritual
reality rather than merely being forced to accept >a >dogma presented by some
religious institution. > On the other hand, we see the conventional religions
of the West. They >are often monotheistic constructs that are based primarily
on faith, beliefs, >and >fear. Their faith is often directed toward the idea
that if you follow what >your >church authorities tell you, or what you read in
your scripture, you will go >to >heaven and be "saved". Belief usually amounts
to accepting something that is >still >beyond your experience. And fear in most
religions is based on the idea that >if >you don't follow the tenants of your
faith or church, or if you question it, >you >may find yourself being
excommunicated and outcaste from your religion, or >even told that you will go
to hell. Thus, you will have no relationship or >connection with God. Fear in
this regard is also displayed as a fanatical >defense >of one's ideas, that
everyone else but you and your clan are going to hell >and that >you are the
only ones who really know the truth. In this way, they allow for >little
>freedom of thought or inquiry, or for the individual to seek out answers to
>questions that are not described in its scripture. Anything that is not
>included is >labeled as either demonic or will lead one to hell. > One problem
with the religions that primarily are based on belief and >faith >is that they
can become an effective means of manipulating the masses who >follow it. If you
can convince people to believe that by doing something they >can >go to heaven,
then you can get them to do almost anything. For example, Pope >Urban II
implied to the soldiers who were going out on the first crusade that >if >they
died in the name of Christ, they would ascend to heaven and live in the
>association of God. Thus, they rode out to fearlessly and mercilessly conquer
>the >"heathens" or non-believers, and were willing to die to reach heaven. >
This is the same effect we see with the Palestinian youth, that if they >die
>in the name of Islam they will immediately go to the seventh level of heaven
>and >take pleasure in wondrous gardens in the company of beautiful virgins.
The >more >fantastic the heaven, the more hope and conviction will be seen in
the >followers. > Another problem with this is that the beliefs that are given
to you to >accept often change with time, or according to the needs of the
church to >keep a >congregation. As explained in a recent issue of Newsweek
magazine (August 12, >2002), the concept of heaven has changed with the ages.
"Dante saw heaven as >the universe, and Thomas Aquinas thought of it as a
brilliant place, full of >light >and knowledge. In the 18th century, Emanuel
Swedenborg imagined heaven as a >tangible world, with public gardens and
parks." Nowadays you can imagine >heaven to be whatever you need it to be. This
gives impetus for you to do >whatever you feel you should do for your beliefs,
and have it justified by >your >religion. However, in actuality, in the Bible,
the Koran, or Torah, there is >little in >the way of specific information of
where or what is heaven. And this leaves >much >for the imagination. > Another
problem with religious processes that rely mostly on faith and >belief is that
peer pressure and the need for conformity and acceptance or >approval stifles
and restricts one's ability to develop or inquire to one's >fullest. >We often
see children tolerated for their deep and thoughtful questions, >while the
>adults fear to reveal their ignorance of the topics or even stifle a child's
>inquisitiveness. So such religions act like self-policing institutions
>wherein >individuals are not encouraged to develop their own spiritual
realizations or >ask >too many questions. They are encouraged to leave it up to
faith and the >dictates >of the institution. They are told that we are not meant
to know certain >things, and >that faith alone in a particular savior or the
power of the church is enough >to take >you to heaven. But if you lack faith or
question it, or don't follow the >dictates of >the church or scripture, you
won't go to heaven. Thus, you must look good in >the eyes of the church
authorities and your fellow members or there will be >no >room for you, and
thus you will be sent to hell. > The second kind of fear is the fear that you
may be wrong, or the church >and its doctrines may be wrong, or there may be
weaknesses in its philosophy. >So >people become defensive of their beliefs,
defending it like life itself. >Thus, they >condemn and criticize those who are
of other religions without trying to >understand them. Sometimes you can see
this amongst the sects in the same >religion. We already see so many divisions
within Christianity, as well as >Islam >and Judaism. And each one often feels
they are the only ones that are true >followers of Jesus or Mohammed, and all
others are going to hell. So it can >become extremely divisive even within the
same faith. > In fact, some people, as in Christianity for example, may feel it
is >their >God-given mandate that when someone is a so-called non-believer, he
should be >converted and "saved" at whatever cost, and then deprived of any
freedom to >follow an alternative view. A person in another religion may brand
>"nonbelievers" >as infidels, and thus feel it is his duty to convert, destroy
or even kill >such a >person. In either case, they may use coercion,
manipulation, or simply take >advantage of poor and vulnerable people to bring
them over to their faith. >And in >both cases, the people of these religions
feel they are doing God's work, and >that >they are justified in what they do.
> However, it is refreshing to see that you usually don't have this kind >of
>divisiveness or criticism in the Vedic system. It is much more open and
>provides >the individual the freedom to pursue the level of experience that he
or she >needs >for his or her own development and still be a part of the Vedic
process. > Religion, when used improperly or without the real essence of
spiritual >truth, can also be a way of confining and restricting people of a
wider >understanding of the universe and themselves. This is done through the
use of >fear, guilt, violence, and the oppression of anything that shows a
different >view >than what is being indoctrinated into society. It has been the
most militant >of >religions that has suppressed the ancient avenues of reaching
higher levels >of >understanding our multidimensional or spiritual nature. Thus,
by mere blind >faith >in whatever the church or priests are giving us, or
allowing us to know, we >are >kept in a lower consciousness than what is really
possible. In this way, >higher >realms of thought, wisdom, love, and knowledge
are kept away from the masses. > >After all, knowledge is power, and your
ignorance is my strength. To keep >power >over others, the church and
monotheistic religions in general have >systematically >abolished a wide range
of spiritual and esoteric knowledge that would, >otherwise, >give mankind the
ultimate freedom. And because people who understand their >true spiritual
nature and the power that lies within themselves become >impossible >to
manipulate, it is necessary to keep this knowledge hidden. So the idea >would
>be to keep the truly spiritual knowledge concealed while creating and
>perpetuating a religion, or a standard of "science," that keeps people bound
>by >the above mentioned factors: fear, guilt, violence, and intimidation. The
>implication is that to tread outside the accepted jurisdiction of knowledge
>or >understanding, or outside the rules of the institution, will bring fear.
This >is fear >of uncertainty, or disapproval by the institution, or of going
to hell, as >previously >mentioned. Questioning the present system, or doubting
its effectiveness, or >desiring more knowledge about God than the church
provides, will bring guilt. >In >this way, some religious institutions have
made such ancient sciences as >astrology, yoga, meditation, or the deepest
understandings of the soul, or >other >topics, to look evil or even absurd, and
thus be dismissed, or preferably >even >outlawed. We need to understand and
recognize this pattern, which is used in >numerous places in the world. > In
this regard, reports have been given about how the Vatican has sealed >vaults
that contain thousands of ancient esoteric books, all of which are >kept out
>of circulation from the public. This indicates the methodical removal of
>various >levels of spiritual and metaphysical knowledge from society, while
claiming >that >anything other than the established doctrine of the church is
satanic, evil, >and >hellbound. The Inquisition was a wonderful method of
producing this effect. >Even today we can see how some people are so influenced
by this tyrannical >tendency that they still are afraid of looking at anything
other than what >the >Church condones. However, most of these people are
totally unaware of the >"pagan" heritage found in Christianity or Judaism,
which makes it very >similar >but with a different name. It is practically the
same medicine but in a >different >bottle. To remove this understanding from
public knowledge, it became >necessary that whenever Christianity or other
militant religions conquered a >country or culture, the first thing that was
done was to capture or destroy >all of >the ancient sacred texts. However, any
organization that destroys the ancient >knowledge and historical records of a
civilization is never going to present >the >true history of the world, or the
spiritual wisdom of any previous culture. >Thus, >the view of history is
controlled and the population is kept in ignorance and >under subtle restraint.
And the people who are allowed to understand any of >the >truth are those of the
elite or who are already in power. > By taking a look at the history of the
Christian Church, for example, a >person can see to what extent a religion will
go to maintain power and >control, >especially when it feels threatened by what
it does not understand. >Furthermore, >the dark history of Christianity
represents the fanatically narrow-minded >side of it >that has continued to the
present day in the form of fundamentalists thinking >that >if a religion or
culture is not Christian, then it must be of the devil. Or >at least its
>followers will not go to heaven. Such people are often ready to dismiss or
>criticize other spiritual paths and cultures without understanding them. They
>may >see a ceremony or ritual of another religion and immediately say it is
>heathen or >devil worship, without realizing that it is the worship of the
same Supreme >Being >that they worship. But a similar misunderstanding can
happen in Christianity. >For >example, in the Eucharist ritual they partake of
drinking the blood and >eating the >body of Christ. Does this mean that
Christians are cannibals, or have a >cannibalistic mentality to eat the body
and drink the blood of their savior? >Not if >you understand that the blood and
body of Christ is distributed symbolically >in >the form of wine and wafers. So
proper understanding is needed in any >religion. > The point is that all people
have to have the freedom to find themselves >to >the fullest extent on whatever
path it takes, providing it is a genuine and >uplifting >path. So how do we
make sure we can continue to have this freedom? By >understanding each other
and other cultures of the world and the different >paths >of self-discovery,
and by recognizing the value that they have to offer. We >must >also bury our
preconceived prejudices that are based on our immature feelings >of
>superiority because, spiritually speaking, we are all the same. We just have
>to >attain that spiritual vision to see the reality of it. And the path we
take >to do that >is the only difference among us. > A true religion paves the
way for everyone to become spiritually aware, >and to establish his or her own
relationship with the Supreme. And the Vedic >system is an ideal means for
supplying that. If a religion is not based on >the >higher principles of
self-realization, but is merely based on dogmatic rules >and >regulations that
it forces on others, then it becomes a trap based on fear, >guilt, >oppression
and intimidation. One must not be afraid to break free from such a >trap. It is
greater to see God's love manifested in many sages belonging to >different
traditions at different times and places, among different people. > The premise
that all spiritual knowledge must be connected with one >distinct or localized
savior is itself a stifling factor in allowing >individuals to >progress in
spiritual understanding. There is so much more that could be >learned >if they
didn't feel that if something isn't connected with their particular >savior or
>scripture, then it must be Satanic. In this way, if it is not in the Bible or
>Koran, >for example, they refuse to acknowledge the value of any additional
spiritual >knowledge if it comes from a different culture or source. Thus, they
act with >fear >or contempt toward anything outside their own sphere of
familiarity or >acceptability, or like people who are proud of their own
ignorance and >narrow- >mindedness. > The straightjacket of Western theological
dogma keeps a person from >looking at additional resources that could supply
answers for questions not >considered in western thought, or at possibilities
that are elementary in >Eastern >traditions. What's wrong with learning newer
ways of connecting with our >higher >selves, and with each other and with God?
What's wrong with allowing our >hearts and minds to expand with new vibrancy,
new insights and confidence? >Why not allow ourselves new hope and
understanding in regard to the purpose >of >the universe and the nature of God,
even if we look to different sources of >knowledge? Who knows what additional
information we can add to what we >already know, or newer ways to incorporate
and develop ourselves into people >who are better and more aware and
spiritually developed. This is natural for >those who participate in the Vedic
system. > For these reasons, India must remain the homeland of a living and
>dynamic Vedic culture. This will allow the world to retain some of the
>deepest >knowledge and methods of attaining the most profound spiritual
insights that >have been known to mankind. India should defend itself from the
risk of >further >partition or divisions. If India is divided up any further,
Vedic culture >could >dwindle or even be lost, except for small colonies of
Vedic practitioners >here and >there. This may indeed be what many people would
like to see. Yet, if Vedic >culture is lost, the world will not even realize the
treasure of human >development >that will disappear. Then such deep spiritual
knowledge and insights will >begin to >permanently fade away from society. >
Once India and Vedic culture is diluted or stamped out, along with other
>decreasing numbers of indigenous traditions, then the whole world will be
>fitted >with the straightjacket of Western thought and monotheistic religion.
Thus, >it will >be more easily controlled by the establishment. Then individual
freedom for >the >pursuit of higher understanding and spiritual happiness will
be limited to >the >constraints as dictated by whatever regional monotheistic
views reign in that >area. > For this reason Vedic culture is the last bastion
of deep and genuine >spiritual truth and freedom. This is also why it should be
clearly understood >and >preserved. > [More insights into this reasoning are
given in my free "e-booklet" cal >led, >"Why Be a Hindu: The Advantages of the
Vedic Path." You can find this and >many more articles on my website at:
http://www.stephen-knapp.com.] MSN Photos is the easiest way to share and print
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