Q. 1. What is the ideal age for serious spiritual practice?
A. 1. 16-30 years which are the most creative years of one's life and which are the most energetic years as well.
Q. 2. What are is the Ashram-Dharm of spiritual practice?
A. 2. Pure pursuit of study during the days of Brahmacharya (student life till 25 years of age); detached performance of work for self-preservation and world-welfare along with daily discipline of chanting, meditation, etc., during the years of Gaarhyastha (householder's life from 25 to 50 years); forest retreat for scriptural study and meditation on the Divine during the years of Vanaprastha ( retired life from 50-75 years); complete renunciation from the world on embracing Sannyas (mendicant monk's life from 75-100 years). Here, it must be mentioned that the Vedic rishis had divided the human life into four phases of 25 years each on the assumption that a healthy human being may live on till 100 years.
Q. 3. What is true non-violence?
A. 3. The attitude of universal love for all, beholding oneself in all. Gandhian Satyagraha was close to non-violence but never truly so for it was a political movement with opponents to overcome, often using dubious means, which was not in spirit with true spiritual non-violence. The fragrant life of Ramakrishna, in contrast to Gandhi's, was the epitome of true non-violence for it was a life lived with no antagonism towards any and with fraternal love to all, nay, even love proceeding from the realization of the Divine Self in all.
Q. 4. Is charity helpful in attaining to spirituality?
A. 4. Charity springs from love for others and a large-heartedness of spirit that caters to not merely self-survival but world-welfare as well. It leads to a sense of integration with the world at large and an expansion of human feeling for the whole of humanity. Charity leads to progressive detachment for the material possessions of the world as well provided the attitude be right in giving, that of service and not help to the world where the giver is the beneficiary and the receiver the benefactor. Such charity is called 'sattwik' charity and it is service worshipfully rendered to the right person at the right time and in the right manner. It elevates the giver and, in due course of time, should he persist in such giving, opens up his spiritual consciousness making him fit for higher spiritual pursuits leading to perfection.
Q. 5. Is taking spiritual initial from a Guru (spiritual preceptor) an imperative to progress in the spiritual path/
A. 5. Absolutely so. Without spiritual initiation one will be wandering aimlessly in the wilderness while the river of spiritual life flows along its subterranean channels to which one will have no access. Initiation with the sacred word (mantra) by a spiritual preceptor creates a passage unto the depths of the soul and sets one up for the inward spiral into Truth. But the Guru must be pure in his living and motivations, untainted by the desire for material gain and must be a knower of the purport of the scriptures. Ideally, a Guru must be a realized soul or one sufficiently advanced along the path towards Self-realization to be able to generate spiritual enthusiasm in the disciple.
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