SPIRITUAL LEVITY --- THE IMPERATIVES AND THE ILLS ... 1

There is such a dearth of inspirational figures in the spiritual world today that sometimes it can be quite disconcerting, especially for one seeking genuine spiritual company or a flaming discourse which will enthral one to the very marrow. There is such a deal of levity and worldliness today in those that deliver spiritual discourses with frequent interspersing of worldly allusions which are quite unnecessary to drive home the central message that one is led to the nostalgia of those golden days of one's youth and despairs if those days will ever come back again when the likes of Bharat Maharaj, Prabhu Maharaj, Surjo Maharaj, Prabir Maharaj, Bhutesahanandaji, Gambhiranandaji, Vandananandaji, Devanandaji, Ranganathanandaji, Gahananandaji, Atmasthanandaji, Gitanadaji and a galaxy of luminous monks trod the holy precincts of the Belur Math. This is no idle reminiscing and lamenting the loss of delightful days gone by but is a genuine concern about the way things are nowadays moving, thanks to the increasing inroads of technology and the declining levels of introspection consequent on it which is directly causing the spiritual dilution in both the monastic and the laity.

The ongoing rapid transformation of Indian society with its liberalisation and modernisation programmes, while it augurs well for the material development of the land, is surely upsetting the age-old spiritual balance that Indian society has been adjusted to. The tremors thus felt are sweeping through the entire polity and the fruits of such quakes have thus far not been very helpful for spiritual growth. Economic growth is bringing in the ills of consumerism, rampant commercialisation of values, the rise in commodity prices and the decline in estimation of the value of the human being. So rapid and so sweeping are these changes today that the entire social fabric is on the verge of serious tension with its concomitant adverse effects on the lifestyle and the daily routine of the common man. It is not easy to be able to economically survive today and those that are successfully riding the tide are doing so at a terrible price, the price of the human soul which is being laid at the altar of commerce to undergo inevitable sacrifice. The rest, who cannot cope with the pace of this feverish rush for Mammon, are being crushed under the wheel of this terrible machine, ugly capitalism. And the first symptoms of this epidemic is the loss of introspection, the loss of serious contemplation on the deeper spiritual issues of life which have been India's age-old area of specialisation and the total breakdown of spiritual discipline in the average Indian with the virus even spreading to the average monastic who seems to be losing his rudder in the spiritual life. Verily, one sees the advent of what in our scriptures has been termed 'dharma glaani' (the decline of virtue/spirituality) and one expectantly looks forward to the renaissance of the Spirit in the advent of the Lord yet again in keeping with his promise in the Bhagavad Geeta. But we must not forget our spiritual duties too in keeping with that promise. For ours is to usher in that day and ready ourselves for such an advent, the terrestrial descent of the Divine. Jai Ramakrishna!