Religion

Hinduism:

The world is but a show, only the onlooker is real

You imagine that without cause there can be no happiness. To me dependence on anything for happiness is utter misery.

Nisargadatta Maharaj: The world is but a show, glittering and empty. It is, and yet is not. It is there as long as I want to see it and take part in it. When I cease caring, it dissolves; it has no cause and serves no purpose. It just happens when we are absent-minded. It appears exactly as it looks, but there is no depth in it, nor meaning.

Only the onlooker is real, call him Self or Atma. To the Self the world is but a colourful show, which he enjoys as long as it lasts and forget when it is over. Whatever happens on the stage makes him shudder in terror or roll with laughter, yet all the time he is aware that it is but a show. Without desire or fear he enjoys it, as it happens.

Questioner: The person immersed in the world has a life of many flavours. He weeps, he laughs, loves and hates, desires and fears, suffers and rejoices. The desireless and fearless jnani, what life has he? Is he not left high and dry in his aloofness?

M: His state is not so desolate. It tastes of the pure, uncaused, undiluted bliss. He is happy and fully aware that happiness is his very nature and that he need not do anything, nor strive for anything to secure it.

It follows him, more real than the body, nearer than the mind itself. You imagine that without cause there can be no happiness. To me dependence on anything for happiness is utter misery. Pleasure and pain have causes, while my state is my own, totally uncaused, independent, unassailable.

Q: Like a play on the stage?

M: The play was written, planned and rehearsed. The world just sprouts into being out of nothing and returns to nothing.

Q: Is there no creator? Was not the world in the mind of Brahma, before it was created?

M: As long as you are outside my state, you will have Creators, Preservers and Destroyers, but once with me you will know the Self only and see yourself in all.

Q: You function nevertheless.

M: When you are giddy, you see the world running circles round you. Obsessed with the idea of means and end, of work and purpose, you see me apparently functioning. In reality I only look. Whatever is done, is done on the stage. Joy and sorrow, life and death, they all are real to the man in bondage; to me they are all in the show, as unreal as the show itself.

I may perceive the world just like you. But you believe to be in it, while I see it as an iridescent drop in the vast expanse of consciousness.

Q: We are all getting old. Old age is not pleasant - all aches and pains, weakness and the approaching end. How does a jnani feel as an old man? How does his inner self look at his own senility?

M: As he gets older he grows more and more happy and peaceful. After all, he is going home. Like a traveller nearing his destination and collecting his luggage, he leaves the train without regret.

Q: Surely there is a contradiction. We are told the jnani is beyond all change. His happiness neither grows nor wanes. How can he grow happier because older, and that in spite of physical weakness and so on?

M: There is no contradiction. The reel of destiny is coming to its end - the mind is happy. The mist of bodily existence is lifting - the burden of the body is growing less from day to day.

Q: Let us say, the jnani is ill. He has caught some flu and every joint aches and burns. What is his state of mind?

M: Every sensation is contemplated in perfect equanimity. There is no desire for it, nor refusal. It is as it is and that he looks at it with a smile of affectionate detachment.

Q: He may be detached from his own suffering, but still it is there.

M: It is there, but it does not matter. Whatever state I am in, I see it as a state of mind to be accepted as it is.

Q: Pain is pain. You experience it all the same.

M: He who experiences the body, experiences its pains and pleasures. I am neither the body, nor the experiencer of the body.

Q: Let us say you are twenty-five years old. Your marriage is arranged and performed and the household duties crowd upon you. How would you feel?

M: Just as I fell now. You keep on insisting that my inner state is moulded by outer events. It is just not so.

Whatever happens, I remain. At the root of my being is pure awareness, a speck of intense light. This speck, by its very nature, radiates and creates pictures in space and events in time - effortlessly and spontaneously. As long as it is merely aware there are no problems. But when the discriminative mind comes into being and creates distinctions, pleasure and pain arise.

During sleep the mind is in abeyance and so are pain and pleasure. The process of creation continues, but no notice is taken. The mind is a form of consciousness, and consciousness is an aspect of life. Life creates everything, but the Supreme is beyond all.

Excerpted from “I Am That” - Indian Post

Islam:

Unto whom wisdom is given

Fasmiya FAZLY

The word wisdom means understanding what is true. My dear readers I am writing this article for those who are interested in understanding the truth.

The thoughts of the people who have understood the truth are completely different from the others. They are in a position to forget the things around them and most importantly they tend to forget themselves.

The thoughts of those who have understood the truth could be categorised in the following ten basics:

* whom they worship.

* who guides their souls.

* which holy book enlightens.

* which religion could fulfil their life.

* a sense of awakened justice within their inner self.

* human brotherhood.

* deeds of beneficence.

* worshipping.

* the real essence of all wisdom.

* differentiate mortal and immortality.

Worshipping practices of these people are different from the others. The name by which we call the creator makes no different to them. Whether it is Allah, God, Gott, Dieu, Khuda, Barahma, Brahma or Bahawan.

When any of these names are given by different people at the time of worshipping, for them all these names are of their God; the Creator because they feel God is beyond the limitations of a symbol or name.

They see their God in the sun which is also accepted by different sects in Islam as they believe ‘Allah is everywhere’.

They are in a position to recognise Him and worship in all the forms in the universe yet knowing and believing in Him that the Creator is to beyond all forms; God in all and all in God, He Being the Seen and Unseen.

They walk through all their life in the path of love and light. They accept the life as given to them as they strongly believe the form of life we ought to lead is destined by Him alone in perfect resignation.

For these believers the sacredness of the name of God is as medicine to a patient. Reaching the eternity in life is the only purpose in their living.

They believe that the inspiration of knowledge and guidance is in the hands of God alone. The mature soul that draws blessings from the heaven and god speaks to them through the soul.

Although the tongue of God is busy speaking through all things, yet in order to speak to the deaf years of many among us, it is necessary for Him to speak through the lips of man. He has done it all through the history of mankind. Every great teacher in the past has enjoyed the life as guiding spirit living the life of God in human guise.

To say this is another form, the human guise consisted various forms of dress worn by the same person, the Creator appeared to be different in each Shiva, Buddha, Rama, Krishna, on the other side in Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Mohamed so they will come to know that there is only one teacher, however differently they may be named at various points of time in the history.

When they walk in the path they have understood well, they will be startled to see the vision of God, the worship deity in their immense, manifested in nature, after their life become a perfect revelation both within and out.

They can understand what the spirit of guidance is, how they speak through the soul and how the guidance can come to be practised. It could be explained in the following manner; as in man there is a faculty for art, music, poetry and science, so in him is the faculty or spirit of guidance, it is better to call it spirit because it originates perfectly.

It is like this, every one of us has an artistic faculty, but they cannot be called and artist and everyone of us vac subscribe a tune but only one in thousands become a musician. So this guidance, teaches those of who deserve amongst us to understand the reality.

They can easily understand the reality through any of these divine Books whether it is Quran, Bible etc which could enlighten through the practices of life if they give respect of such Holy Books and other sacred scriptures and teach them the truth if these scriptures are remaining incorruptible manuscript of nature.

How a Holy Book could understand the living model and inner law of life. This is a very important point to build up their thought to understand the words of wisdom.

The duty of every individual is to follow the religion though each and every one would have his own path. They understand that every soul is for a specific purpose and the religious path leads the man towards attainment of his ideal both worldly as well as heavenly.

The people who understood the word of wisdom would simply know which religion is clear for them to understand the spirit of truth. A peaceful harmonious life cannot be led until the sense of justice has been awaken in him by self conscience. It is the law of reciprocity which save man from being craving for higher powers.

Although the different religious saints have acted harmoniously and peacefully, their followers have given different law but we should not fail to understand that they all meet at one zenith, that is the real Truth.

They can compare all the religious law and would see that there is only one law that is the law of reciprocity. Those who have understood the truth have a clear understanding about the brotherhood in humanity.

They can choose different ways but they can see only true and a righteous way. The religious band shows a still a higher ideal, but it has diverse sects which has opposed and disposed each other for thousands of years and have cause endless splits and divisions among men.

The germ of separation even in such wide scope for brotherhood. So they realise this themselves from national, racial and religious bias. The religious boundaries which should unite themselves in brotherhood is divided by differences and distinction of class, caste creed, race, nations without uniting mankind universally.

The science can divide the humanity into groups but they cannot divide the colour of the blood, so it is simple that there is only one brotherhood which unites the children of the earth as against the fatherhood of God.

The deed of beneficence is love for the people who have understood the reality. We can observe their different qualities and each and every action of theirs will teach us how strong their heart is fulfilled through love, kindness, and affection.

When they put it into action in their day to life, the laymen will not fail to observe the wisdom they possess in each and every action carried out by those who have understood the Truth.

A single stream of waterfall may divert to several directions, but the stream is source of all, and that is the point of the circle that is love that leads to hope, patience, endurance, tolerance, forgiveness and to all other moral principles.

Their real love and kindness make them easier to give up anything and everything. So the deeds of kindness and the beneficence takes root in the soil of the loving heart.

Their worship is totally different from the others. Whatever they do, for them it’s a worship. Every sight is a worship; every step is a worship. So they realise the beauty of worship in whatever they see and the idea of worshipping God in all forms is foremost in their mind. Those who know which is wisdom know themselves and they should know God.

They feel that they have passed away into nothingness and have realised the secret of life; they will understand that the life is one, but that exists into two aspects - first being immortal and the other as mortal active and manifest in variety.

So they realise there is one path, the annihilation of the false ego is real which raises the mortal to immortality and wherein all perfection resides. My dear readers I thank that you all would have read this article with the same feeling the article was prepared.

“Unto whom the wisdom is given who has abundance good.”