Walk Down the Path of Spirituality in the Quest of the Unknown
Jaydeep Parmar
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The Importance of Finding Perfect Spirituality
How to find perfect spirituality? Why do we need a Guru? Who is the right Guru? How do we get knowledge from a Guru? What is the power of a genuine Guru? Let's understand the complexity of spirituality.
The Treasure of Vedic Bharatiya Scriptures
Vedic Bharatiya scriptures hold a treasure of knowledge, ranging from psychology, law & order, politics, history, astrology, astronomy, material science, Vedic mathematics, finance, etc. They were carefully designed for civilization to thrive and strive for the ultimate goal of life. Apart from the knowledge necessary to run the world, huge importance was given to understanding God and His creation, including the spiritual world.
Understanding the Real Problems of Life
Most people wonder how to get rid of the real problems of life. It is the burning question for spiritual seekers. Unfortunately, most people in this world do not know the real problems of life (including me until I got an opportunity to know). The real problems of life are not having enough money, power, or position. The real problems of life are the ones that are applicable to all, undesired, and unavoidable. Those who are on the path of spirituality at least get to understand this during their early quest. Death, disease, old age, and birth are real problems of life (Bhagavad Gita 13.9). People understand the first three but generally question the fourth one. Why is birth a problem? And the answer is quite simple. The first three problems exist because of birth in this world. If we understand this, the next question knocks on the door. Why do we take birth? The answer is not simple and requires us to walk further on the path of spirituality.
The Root Cause: Envy
We are in this world because we desire to enjoy separately from the Lord. In fact, envy is the real culprit. If you see people in this world having different issues related to lust, anger, greed, pride, and illusion, no doubt it is understood that these are undesired guests for us. But envy is actually at the center of all these issues. It gives us the false identity that we are the body. In reality, the body is just the covering. We are actually a spirit soul.
The Role of Authentic Scriptures
If we brainstorm on the different questions of life, we may get the answers from authentic scriptures. However, knowing the answers is not the end. Understanding them and acting on them is the most important aspect and the very goal of all scriptures. Here lies the need to look for a person who is self-realized. The self-realized soul is one who has understood the concept of body, mind, and soul and achieved God realization. Such people can actually guide the worthy disciple on the path to the highest platform of spirituality (Bhagavad Gita 4.34 & 4.35). A blind man cannot show another blind man the path. Similarly, one who has understood the science of God or the art of achieving Him (to get ever-lasting and ever-increasing true happiness) can actually help others who are in need.
Qualities of a Genuine Guru
Who can become a Guru? Someone who has a bad habit of smoking, drinking alcohol for self-gratification, illicit relationships that spoil a healthy society, and greed for earning easy money through gambling cannot become a Guru for sure. It is obvious and mentioned in the scriptures as well. The first verse of Nectar of Instruction helps in understanding this from an authentic view. A sober person who can tolerate the urge to speak, the mind’s demands, the actions of anger, and the urges of the tongue, belly, and genitals is qualified to make disciples all over the world. The one who knows what to speak and what not to speak. One who can control the mind (which is indeed difficult). One who can control anger and act positively knowing the consequences of anger. One who can control the desire to speak unnecessarily (words can create more harm than arrows from a bow). One who can control the desire to overeat (which actually leads to indigestion and is the cause of many diseases as per Ayurveda). One who can control the deadly enemy lust and utilize the urge of genital to bring the best progeny who can bring real peace to the world and help others grow in spiritual life. The principle is quite clear. Remember it and use it when you are in search of a genuine Guru.
Establishing the Guru-Disciple Relationship
Once you get a bona fide and genuine Guru, the quest does not end here. The journey actually starts here. You need to give your life and soul to the Guru and serve him wholeheartedly. However, keep in mind that in this journey, your Guru should maintain the stature of a Guru. Since it is also a spiritual journey for a Guru to guide others and achieve God at the end of his life. The disciple should accept the Guru and always use his intelligence on the path of Bhakti. You will be surprised to know that at the end of the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna demands surrender from every soul who wants to achieve Him. But he never tells his devotees to leave intelligence or rules and regulations mentioned in the scriptures at any point in time. In case your Guru falls from his/her elevated position, you can actually leave the Guru and go to another bona fide and genuine Guru. Lord Krishna, being the well-wisher of all living entities, actually guides his devotees invisibly on the path of devotion.
The Importance of Disciplic Succession
The Guru should also have walked the same path by serving his Guru. By this logic and extension of the argument, it is clear that all such Gurus should reach Lord Krishna in an upward hierarchy. The first Guru has to get connected with the Lord directly and he is to be someone directly chosen and empowered by Lord Krishna. One such example from scripture is Narada Muni who actually started this chain and, by God's desire, guided many wonderful disciples like Dhruva Maharaj, Prahlad Maharaj, Vyasa Deva, etc. There can be many such disciplic successions but all disciplic successions should be under the final purview of God himself.
Serving the Guru: Vapu and Vani Seva
Once the Guru and Shishya (disciple) relationship is established, there are two ways to serve your Guru. You can serve your Guru by doing humble services such as providing him food, helping him in his services (spreading the message of the Shrimad Bhagavad Gita), doing his daily chores, etc. This is called Vapu (body) seva of your Guru.
The other way to serve your Guru is to do Vani (speech) seva. It involves following the instructions of your Guru as the aim and goal of life. Whatever Guru suggests and says, it is the responsibility of the disciple to follow it wholeheartedly. Here, you can also ask submissively if you have certain doubts or questions in following particular instructions. Lord Krishna wants his devotees to sharpen their intelligence by growing on the path of devotional service.
The Power of Serving Through a Guru
One may question why not directly approach Lord Krishna and serve Him. However, Lord Krishna is actually pleased and rewards the highest perfection of life in lesser time if one comes to Him through a bona fide spiritual master (Guru). It is the desire and empowerment of God to actually give in-person guidance to the disciples through the spiritual master (Guru). In the material world, an influential person is pleased if his/her immediate subordinates are respected and kept in the loop for any interaction with the general public.
Way Forward
Let's start the quest for true spirituality and get authentic guidance from a bona fide Guru empowered by Lord Krishna. This journey towards perfect spirituality is a path of dedication, service, and genuine understanding, leading us closer to the ultimate truth and everlasting happiness.
Stay tuned for more such articles. We will try to understand more such aspects of life.
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