Vedanta

The claim that one is “spiritual” but not “religious” has lately become so common as to be almost unnoticed. I first noticed this trend among students on college campuses but soon discovered that it was everywhere. It is found in all age groups (but more among the young and the middle aged than the elderly) and in all places (but more in urban settings than rural) and cuts across religious, social and cultural boundaries. The claim to be “spiritual” but not “religious” looks ludicrous at first sight, as if it is possible to have a religion without any spirituality, and to be spiritual without having to do anything with religion!

In this book the Dalai Lama champions the cause of interreligious understanding and harmony, a theme Vedantists will be familiar with. He begins by pointing out the dangers of religious extremism, and notes that the world is now so globalized that religions can no longer remain isolated, but have to come to terms with one another.

Prayer is the primary spiritual practice in the Western religious tradition embodied in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Westerners who come to Vedanta usually feel more comfortable with prayer than they do with meditation, because they’re more familiar with it. But prayer, japa, and meditation can be practiced together. One tends to segue into another.

Coming into the presence of Holy Mother, even for a second, for a moment was enough. You touch her feet and that is enough. This has been experienced by hundreds and thousands of people. And what happened? Their lives were completely transformed. If one is prepared, if one is ready, then the reaction to that transmission comes immediately. Otherwise, it has a delayed reaction. This is a truth, a fact, that whoever came and had her blessing; their lives were completely transformed. I have seen the sinner become a saint.

The life of Holy Mother has been written beautifully by many authors, and so I will not recount her life story. First, I will give you my own experiences that I had with her. I had the blessed fortune to meet her many times in my life. I shall also relate to you what I have heard directly from the disciples of Sri Ramakrishna, and you will find how they looked upon her; as well as some stories I have heard from her attendant [Rashbehari, later Swami Arupananda], a brother disciple of mine.

There is hardly anyone who has not prayed at some time or other in his life. When a baby feels hungry or discomfort it cries. To its mother at least, it is an unarticulated prayer, and she runs to it and attends to its needs. In a way, every wish may be regarded as an unuttered prayer. In this sense even an atheist or a materialist prays; only in his case he prays to himself.

The name Bhairavi means “frightful,” “terrible,” “horrible,” or “formidable.” The basic idea here is fear. Ordinarily we associate fear with darkness. It is not uncommon to be afraid of the dark, or rather of the dangers that lurk there unseen, but that is not the sort of fear that Bhairavi provokes, for she is said to shine with the effulgence of ten thousand rising suns.

The highest spiritual truth is that reality is One. That reality, when personified as the Divine Mother, expresses itself in countless ways. The ten Mahavidyas, or Wisdom Goddesses, represent distinct aspects of divinity intent on guiding the spiritual seeker toward liberation. For the devotionally minded seeker these forms can be approached in a spirit of reverence, love, and increasing intimacy. For a knowledge-oriented seeker, these same forms can represent various states of inner awakening along the path to enlightenment.

Japa is one of the main spiritual practices of the Ramakrishna movement. Combined with prayer and meditation, it forms a triangle—a three-fold method of reaching out for God, establishing him within, and keeping him there. Prayer is simply the act of talking to God.

What is Self-Development from a Vedantic standpoint? “Each soul is potentially divine,” says Swami Vivekananda. “The goal is to manifest this Divinity within by controlling nature, external and internal.”[Swami Vivekananda, The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda (Mayavati: Mayavati Memorial Edition), I.124.] We read such words, and the meaning seems self-evident. Until, that is, we try to define our terms.