Satsang 1 : Principles of spiritual practice (Part 1)

We have understood the importance of spirituality, importance of chanting the Name of family deity and the Name of Deity Datta, law of Karma, benefits of chanting, and how chanting works. We will now understand about the principles of spirituality.

1. There are as many paths of spiritual practice
as there are number of individuals!

The important principle in spirituality is – ‘There are as many paths of spiritual practice as there are number of people!’. There are many paths in Spirituality like dnyanyog, karmayog, dhyanyog, bhaktiyog. There are different paths to liberation (moksha) according to the varied nature of each person. Hence it will be incorrect to force everyone to do sadhana in a particular way or according to a particular path. If every individual practices spirituality according to his/her nature, spiritual progress will be fast.

In one family, all members may be of different nature i.e., they may be following various paths of spiritual practice. For example, I have firm belief in God and I have an inclination to get closer to God, then my path is according to bhaktiyog. My Father has studied Bhagvadgeeta and he likes reading holy texts and thinks about what he reads. His sadhana path is dnyanyoga. My wife/husband can meditate easily, which means he/she if of dhyanmarga. If my son works selflessly for hindutva, then his path is karmayoga. In short, even though my family is one, the nature of everyone is different and so is their spiritual path. In such a situation, asking my father who is doing sadhana under dnyanyoga to go on field and work for hindutva, will it be possible for him? Or if I tell my karmayogi son to meditate daily, will it be possible for him? But if every person does sadhana according to his/her nature, then he/ she will be able to do it whole heartedly. Hence it is said ‘There are as many paths to spiritual practice as the number of individuals !’ Even if everyone follows different paths of spirituality according to their nature, if in addition to that the part of sadhana which encompasses all paths is also followed, the progress in spirituality will be faster. So also, whatever may be the path of spiritual practice, but without Guru’s grace, there cannot be progress. For this reason, the Founder of Sanatan Sanstha, Paratpar Guru Dr Athavaleji has included the path of Guru’s Grace (Gurukrupayoga) which encompasses all other paths of spirituality, for faster spiritual progress. Gurukrupayoga is not a sampradayik word. To achieve spiritual progress, Guru’s grace is must. This word is used in that aspect.

Path of Guru’s grace (Gurukrupayoga) is beautiful combination of dnyanayoga, karmayoga and bhaktiyoga. After understanding the principle of ‘There are as many paths in spiritual practice as the number of individuals!’, Let us now understand the main principle in Gurukrupayoga and what all aspects are to be considered while beginning spiritual practice. As many people are unaware of the principles in spiritual practice, there is a risk of wasting a lot of time in their life doing incorrect spiritual practice. Even after doing spiritual practice, due to not finding change in oneself, there are chances that they may leave spiritual practice halfway. Incorrect thoughts like the one given below are likely to come to mind – ‘I have worshipped God so much or done so much sadhana, still why did this happen to me?’ In order to avoid this, we will understand some prime guiding principles of spiritual practice.

2. Practice according to likes and capability

The first principle of spiritual practice is do sadhana according to one’s likes and capability. In this world no two individuals resemble each other. They all differ in physique, mind, intellect, likes-dislikes, virtues–vices, hopes and aspirations, desires, sanchit-destiny etc. The five principles which the human body is comprised of, namely earth, water, fire, air and ether (Akash) are different in different people. In short, as every individual is having different nature and capabilities, the routes towards God realization are many.

Doing spiritual practice according to likes and capability means to offer to God whatever we do, so that it becomes spiritual practice. Doing spiritual practice according to ones liking and capability helps God realisation to take place faster. For example, one has good quality voice and he/she likes to sing. If we tell him/ her to draw picture of Shri Krishna instead, will he/ she be able to do it? But instead if we tell him/ her to sing a song of Shrikrushna or to sing with spiritual emotion about Shrikrushna, then he/ she will be able to do it wholeheartedly. Suppose one has good technical capabilities and he uses ‘Facebook, twitter and Email in a very good manner. Understanding the capability of such a person, if we give the seva of spreading spirituality on social media, he will do it nicely. But if we tell him to study spiritual texts, will he be able to do it wholeheartedly? The answer is but obvious. He will be able to spread spirituality through social media in a better way. In short, doing spiritual practice according to likes and capabilities is a way to rapid spiritual progress.

 3. Going from many to one

The second principle of spiritual practice is going from many to one! Supreme God (Parameshwar) is one, but the world is full of many things. We have to move from many things in this world towards that one Supreme God. This has to be kept constantly in mind. Let us understand how to achieve this.

A. Worship of deities

We know the importance of worshipping one’s family deity (Kuladevata). God gives us birth in a family wherein the worship of the corresponding family deity is most conducive for our spiritual growth. Hence, instead of worshipping various deities, it is preferable that we worship that one family deity (Kuladevata). Some individuals worship a varied number of deities. For example, they go to Hanuman temples on Saturdays, worship Mahalakshmi Devi on Fridays, fast on Mondays, read Dasbodh, chant Bhagavad Gita and Dnyaneshwari, etc. It is good to worship different deities, but what is even better is to worship only one’s family deity (Kuladevata) or one’s favourite deity (Ishtadevata) with devotion. The reason for this is that there should be dedication in spirituality. This is in accordance with the ‘many to one principle’ in spirituality.

The second point is that in spirituality, our personal likes and dislikes have no significance. If an individual suffers from tuberculosis and he says, “I like Sulfa tablets and I take Penicillin injections because I like it”, then these medications are of no use to him because they will not kill the germs causing tuberculosis! For curing tuberculosis, one has to take Isonex tablets. The same applies to spiritual practice as well. Personal likes and dislikes, for example, “I like worshipping Ganapati or Saibaba”, have no significance in spirituality. One has to go beyond likes and dislikes and do spiritual practice according to the science of spirituality. Only then can one rapidly progress spiritually.

B. Temple at Home (pujaghar)

The principle of many to one is applicable to the temple at home also. It is seen at many places that the household shrine consists of 8-10 or even more deities. Sometimes, there are multiple idols of the same deity present. For example, one can see an idol of Shri Krishna playing his flute, an idol of Shri Krishna blessing his devotees and an idol of Shri Krishna in his child form (Balkrushna), or Shiva pindi as well as photos of Lord Shankara in the same temple at home. Many a times, when a devotee visits a holy place (Teerthakshetra), he brings back idols from there and places them in his temple at home. Thus, the number of idols in the temple at home keeps on increasing. It should be noted here that the tattva or principle of deity in a particular idol is the same as that in another idol of the same deity. This does not mean that one gets more tattva of a deity if one has a greater number of idols. According to spiritual science, only the idols of Ganapati, family deity (Kuladevata), Balkrushna (according to one’s family tradition – Kulachar), Maruti and Annapurna Devi, and if one worships deities like Shiva or Durga, then idol of any one of these deity as well.

The temple at home should be arranged in the following manner. Ganapati’s idol or photo should be placed in the middle of the shrine. We humans communicate among us in words, which is called ‘Naad-bhasha’. The language in which Gods communicate is called ‘Prakash-bhasha’. Ganapati does the work of translating Naadabhasha to Prakashabhasha and vice versa. Female deities like Shri Annapurna, Kuladevi, etc should be placed one behind the other on our right side and male deities like Balkrushna, Maruti etc., should be placed one behind the other on our left side, in the temple at home. The arrangement of deities should be in the form of a cone.

Now, the question arises as to what should be done about the extra idols of deities present in the temple at home. If the extra idols present are made of metal or of stone, then they should be immersed properly in flowing water (visarjan) and idols made of wood can be offered to fire (agni-visarjan). Information about arrangement of idols of deities in temple at home has been published in Sanatan’s text called ‘Temple at home and implements used in the worship of God’. This text contains scientific information about temple at home as well as about various implements used in worship. This text is available for sale on the website www.sanatanshop.com.

C. Moving from gross to subtle

In spirituality, the incidents that take place in subtle are more important than the ones happening at the gross level. To understand this, let us see what is meant by subtle and gross. Gross means those things that can be experienced through our five senses, that is, through eyes, nose, ears, tongue and skin. Subtle means those sensations that are beyond the experiential capacity of our five senses, mind and intellect. An important principle in spirituality is that subtle is superior to gross. Also, subtle is more powerful than the gross. This is similar to saying that atomic bomb is more powerful than an ordinary bomb in scientific parlance. We have seen in epics like Ramayan, Mahabharat, or serials based on these epics that whenever ordinary arrows failed, the archer would first chant some mantras and then shoot his arrow, which would then prove to be more effective. In the spiritual context, when God or God principle (Ishwari Tattva) is the subtlest of all, how will we reach this subtlest power if we just keep worshipping idols and photos of deities in gross throughout our lifetime? For progressing from gross to subtle, a curious seeker should also perform mental worship (Manas Puja) along with doing puja at the gross level. Instead of physically going to holy places or shrines, one should try to imagine going there mentally. As an individual starts becoming habitual to this kind of subtle spiritual practice, a day will come when he will definitely reach up to the subtlest principle.