ON THE SPIRITUAL PATH
How do we respond to family members who are critical and who are judging our
involvement with the yogic tradition and the deities involved in that tradition? How can I
deal with people who make negative judgments about our family's choices?
Everyone defends his or her own beliefs. This battle never ends. In fact, the truth is one and
explained in different languages. Debates and arguments did not solve anything for thousands of
years and will not solve anything in the future. Your family members have their own beliefs and
want you to squeeze yourself to fit in the same mould they are molded. Stick to your beliefs and
don't attack someone else's beliefs.
Along those lines, any discipline or faith needs a focus or belief. We have different
philosophies in which we invest our faith to realize the truth of teachings that we haven't
yet experienced. So it's important to have those symbols and faith and yet we know they
are not the ultimate. If we say that everything is the same, then we don't have a path to
walk on.
To start the journey, you take a path and start walking. The deeper you go the more the paths
start merging in one. Is there any difference for the realized one whether someone worships
gods, deities, or just worships one God with a form or formless? Different philosophies give an
understanding of seeing the same truth through different angles.
Most religions, including both the Christian and the Jewish, don't make graven images and
don't worship images.
Yes, Jewish, Christians and Mohammedans do not use any form of God. In Hinduism the form is
used as a symbol which indicates a particular divine energy.
You mean it's impossible to visualize God without some image or book?
Who doesn't worship God without a symbol? Symbols are an indicator of God's energy and not
gods by themselves. Road signs indicate the path to a town and not the town itself. The alphabets
of all languages are symbols of particular sound. So we live and function by using symbols.
In the Catholic faith, there are a lot of saints such as patron saints of healing, travel, art,
etc. People pray to them to intercede with God. The deities serve as an intermediate being
between God and ourselves.
Everything is a reminder. We are lost in the world and when we see a mosque, a church, a deity,
it reminds us that there is God, whether there is God or not but it wakes us up.
Is it important to determine exactly which category (Karma, Bhakti, Jnana) we ourselves
are practicing?
Karma Yoga is mixed in Bhakti and Jnana because any mental and physical activity, devotion or
knowledge can't be practiced. Those who are naturally more devotional, their devotion
predominates in any method that they practice. Similarly, knowledge predominates in the
activities of intellectuals.
If one is living a spiritual life with the aim of peace and one's relationship is full of
confusion and arguments, how can one keep the aim of feeling of peace?
Disagreement creates arguments. Two people together create this situation and both defend their
ego. If they don't learn to compromise, the fight doesn't stop and they live in disharmony and
emotional pain and sadness. So to live in peace, the living situation must change.
A person's dharma is said to be based on one's past actions. If one has a teacher who can
instruct one as to one's dharma, that is one situation. Most people don't have such a
teacher; they are caught in survival and desire. How are such people to understand
dharma?
Dharma term means things like religion, duty, nature, but its real meaning is nature-born
qualities. Like the sun's dharma is heat and light. Here we are using the meaning “duty.” It's
hard to understand one's duty when the mind is confused and deluded so we need some outer
guidance. If such guidance is not available and a person has a spiritual mind, then in time the
mind will be purified by the person's spiritual practice.
Even if we have guidance, we have difficulty in following the instructions.
Yes, the path is hard. Many setbacks appear time to time. But one who has a firm aim can make
it.
If one person is in the yoga path and the partner is a Sufi or Buddhist, is there a way to
support each other or are there inherent difficulties in such a situation?
Different spiritual path is not a factor. Different mind to relate to each other is a factor. We are
all different even if we have the same path. But we still relate to each other with a spirit of
compromise. When this spirit of compromise doesn't exist, there is always contradiction and
confrontation even though we have the same path.
In one sense we are supposed to forget about and let go of the mind-body complex but these
practices bring us back to focus on the mind and body.
How we are forgetting mind-body complex? We function with the mind-body complex. We are
supposed to forget the misconception that 'I am (the self) is the mind body complex.'
The food we eat and how it affects the mind-body complex. Purity of thought and silence is
focus on the mind. Is this focus on the mind and body used as a way to get beyond the mind
and body?
All these practices are for weakening the egocentric desires. If a person is truthful, for example,
that person's inner world will narrow down because unreal (illusory) world within it is vast.
About focusing on the body in order to go beyond that, is that an example of bhoga and
apavarga?
To experience “poison kills,” we don't take poison. So many things we don't need to experience
because we know they are not conducive to our self-development. Some experiences we go
through and as a result we get trapped by bhoga or pleasure and pain. This is our prison. When
we are in prison and see the prison walls and feel choked inside, then we think to get out
(apavarga). So we create good behavior and prison authorities start liking us and in time we get
out.
I understand that through sadhana, the ego purifies and there's a natural tendency to become
less attached to the fruits of action. The ego is so addicted to the pleasure of reward, that it's a
hard process. Are there other tools, techniques or practices we can use?
What is the definition of sadhana?
Keeping the aim to purify the ego self.
Sadhana means the methods, which bring perfection in our self-development. It has two parts: 1)
physical action, kriya yoga, and 2) mental action, vichara or reflection. Some who are mentally
strong, they achieve non-attachment, desirelessness, by self-inquiry or self-reflection. Others
practice the rules of restraints and observances, regular practice of meditation, etc.
About mental action and physical action: can mental action create physical action and vice
versa?
In common people, yes. Like object creates desire and desire manifests the object. But for the yogi
who is completely desireless, this doesn't happen. A common person picks an apple and sees it. He
sees it, he eats it, and he appreciates it. The yogi does the same thing but there is a different. The
yogi doesn't carry the memory. It doesn't create any attachment or addiction.
When we become aware of our desires during meditation, such as thoughts of our investments
in the stock market, or going to the bakery, what do we do?
All desires are present all the time, but the mind is so busy with various things that we don't notice
it. During meditation, we separate ourselves from the outer world; the mind slows down. Now the
inner thoughts have the full freedom to appear. How to remove it? Keeping the mind in one object.
The mind goes out repeatedly but bring it back whenever it sneaks out. Don't be discouraged or
frustrated. Keep the mind alert and aware of its nature of sneaking out. Gradually the concentration
will get stronger and sneaking out mind will get weaker.
It seems there is spiritual perfection and there is spiritual progress. We tend to be hard on
ourselves if we feel we're not attaining spiritual perfection. On the path, it's easy to lose
track of perfection and progress and hard to understand the difference between the two.
There is always progress. If you go hiking, you cover some distance. You may not cover the
distance you choose, but there is progress. Understanding a little truth in life is a big progress.
“I am angry; I hate it.” This knowing is a big progress. Spiritual perfection is a big word. It
cannot be defined completely by any language since God is infinite and the striver to achieve
God will understand God principle according to one's finite mind. Spiritual perfection is
knowing God principle within but it is not complete. The ultimate perfection is merging in God
principle where duality doesn't exist.
Page 6
© 1999 Sri Rama Publishing
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