reason vs. superstition

[Guest guest]

It is an interesting thing, people assume that because

they follow the spiritual path, they have license to

put away rationality, because they were told that God

is inscrutible by the rational mind.

 

They forget that it is also said that:

 

" krOdhAt bhavati sam-mOhah sam-mOhat smriti vibramah

smriti brimshAt buddhi nAshah buddhi nAshAt

praNashayti "

 

translated...

 

“Delusion arises from anger. The mind is bewildered by

delusion. Reasoning is destroyed when the mind is

bewildered. One falls down when reasoning is

destroyed. "

 

Clearly, Krishna places much emphasis on reason. This

should indicate to you that reason is held in fairly

high esteem by even Lord Krishna, the master of Yogis.

They key is to know when to apply reason, and what

its limitations are.

 

It is true that Science cannot touch Spirituality.

Indeed, it is a fact that it cannot, as the spirit is

a subjectively experienced reality, while science

focuses on the objective world of the senses (external

facing) assuming them to be real and constant. So

those who focus on trying to " prove " spirituality or

" God " by scientific means, are wasting their time, and

their reasoning is backwards. However, this does not

imply that reasoning itself is to be thrown out the

window. The most important criteria in the path of

Jnana marga (knowledge) is to use 'approved' logic or

reason that is confirmed by the statements in the

scriptures.

 

Despite being extremely drenched in bhakthi

(devotion), most well-known bhakthas were also keen

observers and very intelligent people (e.g., Hanuman -

please refer to the lecture of Swami Manasa datta in

the presence of Sri Swamiji on Hanuman, Trindad 2008).

They applied themselves intelligently, asked

intelligent questions, and approached spirituality in

a serious manner. They did not do it for " someone

else " . Bhakthi does not make you less discriminating,

it intensifies and focuses your discrimination to a

sharp point. By doing so, it automatically engages

your discriminative faculties in the " right

direction " . Without bhakthi, your discriminative

faculties will be sharpening the " wrong end of the

pencil " so to speak. So, jnanam and bhakthi go hand

in hand, and this cannot be otherwise.

 

Hinduism rejects all form of superstitious beliefs at

the very outset. Don't forget, when Hanuman was given

a pearl necklace by Sita devi, he threw most of it

away, saying that he could not find Rama in any of the

pearls. Superstition and ettiquette would have said

to preserve the pearl necklace without destroying it.

Hanuman being a " simple " devotee had a supremely

discriminating intellect - to Him nothing but Rama

matters, come what may. That kind of discrimination

is real. Most hindus today worship superstition more

than their own intellect. Why do we worship idols?

Most people can come up with some philosophical

sounding arguments for it, when pressed; but when they

actually worship the idol in the temple - suddenly

they put away their philosophical perspective - and

think that the idol itself is the lord and forget the

true Lord. They forget the true reason for worshiping

the idol. This is a big mistake. One should

consciously worship the Lord. The idol situated in

the temple represents the Lord situated within the

temple of one's hridaya (heart-center). This is why

you do Atma pradakshina (you circumambulate yourself)

to remind yourself that you are the living temple of

the living God. Swamiji has himself said " I am living

in your hearts - keep them clean. Don't keep garbage

in your hearts. " Think deeply about that statement for

a moment - in fact, think of that statement all the

time - that itself is devotion. You need to keep in

mind you are not doing these spiritual practices for

someone else, so your exhibition of bhakthi and temple

going, will do you absolutely no good. The urge to go

to the temple will happen if real bhakthi is flowering

within you. The fact that you are the real temple,

does not mean stop going to temples. Rather, the

point is that people are forgetting that the intellect

is second only to the Atman itself.

 

What is going on?

 

You can choose to worship fear, or you can choose to

worship God. You must choose: Each and every moment

of your life, you must make that choice. The one only

exists in the absence of the other, by definition.

Look within, and see what drives you to do what you do

at all times.

 

It is not for fun and giggles that Lord Krishna, in

the middle of a raging battle, says " the man of wisdom

is endowed with the light of discrimination " and that

" by means of discrimination one can master the senses

and the Self. "

 

Krishna himself has said that he is there to protect

dharma. What is dharma? It is a fundamental law. It

is the way that things behave. It is the fundamental

order. It isn't some pseudo-construct that society

has come up with - anything that the human mind comes

up with is inherently limited and will decay with time

- but this dharma is said to be sanatana (eternal) so

what is it? That is the question. Think about this

for yourselves.

 

Anything that requires you to sacrifice your

discrimination, cannot be construed as acceptable by

Hindu philosophy. That which is real, is always

real, and that which is unreal, is never real. This

is a fundamental tenet of Sri Krishna's philosophy.

This is something that must be understood very

clearly. Real discrimination is that which is able to

discern the real from the unreal, like the mythical

Swan (Hamsa) that separates the milk from the waters

of the causal ocean. It is for this that Yogi's

undergo so many hardships and practices, so that their

sense of discrimination is well developed, to the

point of being able to discern the real from the

unreal. Meditation is not meant to dull your

intellect - it should sharpen it. You should think

and observe more keenly. Such intensity in the form

of experiences, hardships, and/or devotion, focuses

the mind and develops vairagya within your nature,

which is a necessary pre-condition for real

discrimination. Without vairagya, the intellect very

cleverly lies to itself, from moment to moment. It

lies in such a subtle way, that you will not be able

to detect your own lies. It is vairagya, or

dispassion, that leads one to scripturally acceptable

reasoning.

 

Anyway, these are some things to think about in your

daily spiritual life. May Swamiji guide us all to

such discrimination, which leads to the practice of

true dharma, and the realization of the ultimate

Truth.

 

If you read Sri Swamiji's biography, there is a story

of a wailing (noise-making) demon/rakshasa that haunts

a tree on a hill near a village, that exemplifies this

point. If you're interested, go read it. Maybe

you'll see Sri Swamiji's subtle hint this time.

 

Jaya Guru Datta!

 

 

 

---

Gurorangripadme ManaScenna Lagnam tata: kim! tata: kim! tata: kim! tata: kim!?

Sarva Kartha, Sarva Dhartha, Sarva Hartha, Mangalam!

Satchidananda, Satchidananda, Satchidananda Mangalam!

Tasmai Sri Guru-murthaye Nama Idam Sri Dakshinamurtaye!

 

Ata Nityo Narayanaha, Brahma Narayanaha, Sivascha Narayanaha, Kalascha

Narayanaha. Disascha Narayanaha, Vidisascha Narayanaha, Urdwamscha Narayanaha,

Adhascha Narayanaha, Antar-bahischa-Narayana.Narayana Eh Vedam Sarvam, Yat

BhootamYacchha Bhavyam.Nish-kalango Niranjano Nirvikalpo Nirakyadhas,suddhho

Deva Eko Narayanaha, Na dwiteeyosthi kaschit,ya evam Vedas Vishnu reva Bhavati,

Sa Vishnureva Bhavathi, Etat yajur veda sirodeeyathe.