THE WAY TO GOD ... 1

THE WAY TO GOD ... 1 

1. This Truth is transcendental and cannot be spoken of. It has to be experienced.

2. Experience is both phenomenal as well as transcendental. The senses experience the objects, external to the body and internal to the mind. The senses are transcended to directly experience this Absolute Truth. 

3. The way to transcend the limitations of the sense-bound world of name and form is the subject matter of the scriptures and is termed in the preliminary stage as dharma and in the advanced stage as yoga.

4. Dharma preserves the aspirant en route to the goal. Yoga takes him further on to the goal.

5. Man is hopelessly bound in this dream world of name and form, in this delusive world which is the false appearance of the Real, and is cast in untold misery, that of ignorance, disease, death and the recycling of his self to bear out his past karma.

6. Enormous is his suffering, bound up body and mind and dragged about by the invisible forces of resolving work.

7. In his undeveloped state man enjoys and suffers but cannot sufficiently brood on the effects of his actions to be able to get rid of his perpetual earthly misery.

8. But as he matures through increasing experience through life after life, his inner eye opens and he becomes restless to rid himself of this limitation imposed upon him by the body and the mind and all the misery thereof. 

9. Then he turns inward and the reverse order of evolution, that of the Spirit, begins. The aspirant has finally run into the blindlane of phenomena and must reverse his direction. The inward journey begins.

10. But the trappings are many. Past memories, associations, unfulfilled dreams and desires still play havoc with the reclusive soul.

11. To guard against such goings-on, it is wise to seek the protection of a preceptor and to study the scriptures. 

12. The Vedas are voluminous and can delude the brain. Hence, in this day and age, the study of Swami Vivekananda is most effective as his words are simple, profound, modern, scientific and authoritative. They have the sanction of Self-realisation and the divine commission of his spiritual Master, the Avatar of the Age, Sri Ramakrishna. 

13. Desires are like venomous snakes and they inject the poison of death.

14. Hence, overcoming desires is the way to immortality. From Buddha to Vivekananda all have stressed the need of self-restraint with varying emphasis as to objectives and, hence, with varying results accruing to society. 

15. Desires scatter the otherwise concentrated mind. They take you away from yourself into the objective world of the many. Desires, in doing so, dissipate force, deplete energy and degenerate the man. Death is the eventual result with its unending recycling of the material self through life after life till purity be reached enough for a recoiling unto the Self. 

16. The Self is the One and the World is the Many. The tussle is between the two and this constitutes life, bondage and liberation. 

17. The problem of existence is one of getting out of its transitoriness. It cannot be effected by lengthening lifespan for life, however long, will eventually end. It has to be radically solved by transcending phenomenal life and entering into the absolute immortality. 

18. But it is easier said than done and herein lies the subject matter of the Sanatan Dharma.

19. A certain depth of character is necessary for the aspirant. A light-hearted approach can neither persist nor prevail in the study of the soul en route to realisation of the Self. The scripture talks of 'shraddha' in this regard. It is this intense reverential attitude towards seeking spiritual perfection that is the sine qua non for advancement along the spiritual path. 

Written by Sugata Bose