Freedom is a state of mind that has to be
attained by making the mind least occupied with the affairs of the physical
world. It is neither possible, nor desired to altogether neglect the demands of
the physical world; but, excessive occupation of the mind with such affairs
enslaves the individual, the society and the entire humanity.
Spirituality
is more about the individual’s relationship with the humanity; and, the
religion is more about the individual’s relation with the society. Societies prohibit;
the humanity inspires. It inspires the man to explore oneness in the all that
exists. Societies require the man to indulge; the humanity requires the man to
restrain. Societies involve; the humanity detaches the man from his desires and
selfishness. Societies make the mankind dependent; the humanity makes him free.
Ancient
Indian scriptures told the man almost everything about his duties towards
humanity, but, left him free to choose and carve out his own path for his
spiritual development according to when and where he lived, and the
circumstance he lived in. In other words, according to the ancient scriptures
the only bond the man needed in one’s life was that of the humanity. The
scriptures dealt with all the theories about the creation, existence and
destruction of the universe; and permitted all discussions about the meaning
and purpose of life; but, except for being insistent about the man’s duty
towards humanity, they did not prescribe any thought or faith or made one
sacrosanct. Hence, ancient Indian knowledge was made freely available to the
entire humanity without any discrimination. It did not promote or establish any
religion or sect, or stipulated any conditions regarding the use of that
knowledge, or authorized any human race or group of people as owners or
guardians of that knowledge to promote it or circulate it to other human races
or groups.
The
ancient Indian philosophy treats any knowledge that is for the welfare of the
mankind as a resource that is freely and unconditionally available to each and
everybody without any distinction. There is no concept of forming separate
sects or religious groups for satisfying spiritual needs of the mankind in
ancient Indian philosophy. Maybe, one can erroneously imagine or think about
separate ownerships for portions of sky, air, water or land for satisfying
physical needs of the mankind ; but, it is unimaginable to think of separate
‘pieces of knowledge’ to satisfy spiritual needs of the mankind. Whether the
soul is one or there are many souls existing as exact replicas of the Supreme
soul, the basic knowledge needed to identify them cannot be many; only the methods
employed for spiritual realization can be many. The ancient Indian philosophy
says that each one of us is free to find ways and means to satisfy his
spiritual needs and no one can be persuaded, forced, lured, taught or can be
made to accept a particular method or piece of knowledge for satisfying his
spiritual needs.
The
ancient Indian scriptures are not the only scriptures; there are others also.
The scriptures have, generally, been the sources of many of the religions being
followed by the people of different backgrounds, traditions and cultures. The
times and circumstances have made the people to shift from one geographical
location to another. The people carried their traditions, cultures and
religions along with them from one geographical location to another, in the
midst of the people of different traditions, cultures and religions. As the
consequences of such movements we have witnessed the frictions and clashes, at
times, even very violent ones, between the people of different cultures,
traditions and religions. We have also witnessed that even the traditions,
cultures or religions that were less violent than many others could not create
the desired impact on the sufferings caused by human violence of thoughts,
actions and the words.
From
careful analysis of the human history and the present affairs of the world, we
can infer that the individual efforts of the man to satisfy his spiritual needs
have always been more valuable and important for attaining freedom for him than
the influences he carries owing to his culture, tradition and religion. Hence,
here also, the man must rely more on his own understanding of life and his
efforts to realize its worth than on his social identities.
PROMOD KUMAR SHARMA
[The writer of this blog is also the author of “Mahatma A
Scientist of the Intuitively Obvious” and “In Search of Our Wonderful Words”.]
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