Ahwan - The Spiritual Approach to Life

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"Based on lectures by Sri Bimal Mohanty"

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Take any situation, any difficulty or any problem. Then deeply reflect upon the above ten concepts of Dharmacaran. One would be pleasantly surprised to learn that one or more of these concepts applied to the situation will reveal a solution. It does always. Any one can try this in his or her own life. With a little patience and faith all solutions eventually reveal themselves. But they have to conform to dharma. Thus the very journey of life – this life and the ones hereafter- depend upon Dharmacaran. It is based on the essential truth. It is the law of existence. The law of survival and the law of liberation. It is the law that facilitates striking a balance between life and the divine, universal laws governing the universe. That leads to peace and realisation of the ultimate truth. The law of Dharma and this truth are inseparable. Worth remembering here the words of Brihad –Aranyaka Upanishad. “Verily, that which is Law (Dharma) is truth. Therefore they say of a man who speaks the truth ,!He speaks the law, ‘ or of a man who speaks the law ‘He speaks the truth’. Verily both these are the same thing.”

In Guru Granth Holy Book it is written that all the knowledge, al the reading and understanding of spiritual ways and dharma is of no use until one practice the same in day to day life and realize one own self. One must go within and realize the soul.

Indeed. This is the undertone of all major religions which believe that religion necessarily has to be a way of life. It will be beyond the scope of this site if I have to quote most of what other religions say on this subject. A couple of corroborative statements I hope would suffice.

One could be á very knowledgeable person in his study of religion and spiritualism. One might have read all Sri Aurobindos, Swami Vivekanandas, or Shankaracaryas , one might be á daily reciter of Gitá and Upanishads, yet one could be far from being á developed human being if this knowledge does not mix with life and inspire right living.

In this context it is worth remembering what Sri Aurobindo has said. He said, knowledge does not end with knowing nor is it pursued and found for the sake of knowing alone. It has its full value only when it leads to some greater gain than itself, some gain of being. Simply to know the truth and to remain in the pain, struggle and inferiority of our present way of being would be á poor and lame advantage.

Only when knowledge is put to practice, it gains confirmation. With confirmation comes faith. Faith borne out of conviction is essential for realization. In Bhagavad Gita Lord Krishna also says it in so forthright manner thousands of years ago:

Nor by reading the sciptures, nor by austerity, giving away alms or by sacrifice you can get me. Only focused faith will you know me in true sense.

If I am originally divine, how did I come to this miserable state and have to suffer life after life?

Yes, it is true that we are all inherently divine and possess all the divine qualities. Yet we go through all kinds of sufferings, remaining ignorant of our true self and capabilities until we finally repossess the divinity. In the Sanatana Dharma Philosophy, this is explained as follows: (this is a very limited explanation)
It starts right from the initial start with the first spark of life-force when our existence begins. We are endowed with sense organs(indriyas) which are instruments of experience. The experience that they gather, are to be analysed by our mind (manas) and discerning power (viveka), which is potentially capable of deciding which experiences can ultimately bring sorrow and which can give permanent happiness.This is a learning and evolutionary process leading to the ultimate truth about everything. The truth is synonymous with The Lord or Bramhan.
Unfortunately by their very nature, some experiences produce immediate pleasure but later lead to misery(fuelled by our desire and greed etc.) These are called Preyas. Other experiences may be unpalatable in the beginning but ultimately lead to happiness.These are termed Shreyas. The true knowledge of the nature of things are learnt by practice with the help of Viveka or discerning power.That is the path to true knowledge and union with The Bramhan - the sum total of all knowledge.
But we succumb to the power of our indriyas or sense organs and quickly grab the preyas discarding Shreyas, because it gives immediate happiness.Thus we plant the seeds of misery. Until the true knowledge dawns, we keep on atoning the mistakes we commit. Eventually by constant Sadhana (spiritual efforts), understanding by the grace of the Lord, we progress to reach that state where knowledge delivers us from misery.

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