Living in the Power of the Spirit (Contd).
Living in the Presence of God (The Way of Devotion - Bhakti Marg): It is the easiest way to realize God by self-realization as against Jnana Marg and Karma Marg, i.e., the way of knowledge and the of action. It consists in presenting ourselves as we are, with all our weaknesses and failings, before God. Here we are motivated by love alone and keeping the name of God constantly in our memory. One of the most common ills of present day society is forgetfulness. We are quick in forgetting the benefits received from others as well as from God and sharp in memory about hurts, insults and misfortunes that have come our way. This mental attitude keeps us away from self-realization and realization of God. It should be just the other way around. We should be quick in forgetting and forgiving any ill - treatment we may have received from others or any misfortune that may have fallen upon us in the past. Instead, try to think of all the good things that have happened to us and give thanks for the same. In this context, we see that it is God Himself whom we have to constantly thank and that is a way of living in His presence. Thanking God has to be more than verbal and has to be manifested in our daily life by our life-style! Our human tendency is to wait for miracles to happen to thank God and especially if it is connected with saving us from danger to our lives or some troubles in life. If we live in the presence of God , we shall not wait for such exceptional occasions to thank God but do it at every moment of our lives. Some might think of the impossibility of constantly living in the presence of God and thanking Him just like the perceived impossibility of always praying. They might reasonably think of the daily duties we have to perform as an obstacle to constantly living in the presence of God. It is a question here of combining our spiritual life and life in the world, that may be termed our secular life, into a wholesome unity. How can we, living in this world with all its cares, live in the power of the Spirit especially through love of God in as far as it is the same as living in the presence of God?
The Greatest Commandment: "One of the Pharisees who was a lawyer asked Jesus: 'Master, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?' He answered. 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart; with all your soul with all your mind'' That is the greatest commandment. It comes first. The second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself'. Everything in the Law and the Prophets hangs on these two commandments" (Matthew, 22: 35-40; See Deuteronomy, 6: 5). Some people would like to mix up the first and second commandments and say that loving God is the same as loving your neighbor and vice-versa. It is true that, in the Bible, love of neighbor verifies the genuineness of the love we have for God. However, it does not identify one with the other. In fact, in order to truly love our neighbor we have to first love God with our entire heart. How is it possible to love God with our entire heart and then love someone or something else at the same time? Here we have parallels in the other two problems mentioned above, namely, always praying and doing daily duties and living in the presence of God and being involved in activities in the world.
Two Senses: How shall we be able to combine our spiritual life and life in the world into a wholesome unity is the underlying problem in all of these cases. The answer to this consists in distinguishing between two senses of the realities behind words like 'love', 'presence' and 'prayer'. The first sense of these words would consist in their use in connection with our relationship with God alone. In this sense, our love for God would be manifested as undercurrents to our entire existence. All our actions would be suffused with the spirit of love of God. Just as in a river the undercurrents guide and direct all other currents on the surface of the river, our love for God co-exists with and directs our love for our neighbor. Similarly, our prayers would be in secret and addressed to the Father in heaven. Elements of contemplation, thanksgiving and glorification of the Father would be prominent in this kind of prayers. Our prayers in public and in community would be filled with the spirit of this kind of personal prayer Living in the presence of God would be a consequence of remembering what the Lord has done for us with a thankful heart and does not come in the way of our routine duties. It is similar to the attitude of a servant who looks after the children of his master as if they were his own. However, his mind and heart would be with his own children living in his hometown for whom he is actually working.
The second sense of the words 'love', 'presence' and 'prayer' would be found in their use in relation to our activities in the world. What is the guarantee that our love of neighbor is the right kind of love? It would be the right kind of love if this second sense of 'love' is governed by its first sense. Similar is the case with 'presence' and 'prayer' too. In short, our relationship with God (spirituality - the sacred) creates the right attitudes and the spirit that should guide our life in the world (secular life). Here a possible difficulty might crop up about the diverse internal laws that govern the spiritual world and the world we live in. Unless we go by the laws of the latter we cannot be expected to to get ahead in life. To make things worse, very often the spiritual and worldly values are diametrically opposed to each other.
Detachment: The solution to these difficulties can be found in the attitude of detachment we should have in our daily life. Detachment consists in the attitude of living in the world without being worldly, i.e., without the worldly values as opposed to spiritual values. Worldly possessions are a great drag on our spiritual nature and unless we get rid of these possessions we shall not grow spiritually. Our attitudes towards riches and possessions can either bind ourselves to them or free us from their clutches. If we are bound by the attractions of riches and possessions, the words of Jesus should awaken us: "It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God" (Mark, 10: 25). This freedom is achieved through detachment. Jesus called such people "poor in spirit" (Matthew, 5: 3), for although they may have riches and possessions they are not bound by their attractions. Their mind and heart are free to do good and show mercy to the poor and they never think of using their riches and influence gained through them to do any evil. These are the people who lead secular lives as against those who have decisively broken their bonds with the world by selling off all their possessions and distributing them to the poor (See Matthew, 19: 21).
Detachment, in other words, is a kind of death to the world and to one's own self. Unless we get rid of the worldly values and our own selfish outlooks, we can never grow in spiritual life. This is what Paul calls the death and resurrection of the baptized whereby a new person is born (See Romans, 6: 4-8). Jesus had spoken about this kind of rebirth to Nicodemus (See John, 3: 3). A dead person is impervious to all attractions and repulsion, to all praises and insults, success and failure and thereby remains detached from this world and the self. Similarly, a detached person looks at life from a quite new perspective and his or her priorities are dictated by the new life in the Spirit. This is the secular life we mentioned earlier as opposed to mere worldly life. In the present day world of rat-race competitions for everything, unless we follow the internal rules of those competitions, how can we ever hope to excel? The requirement of detachment is not against following such rules. On the contrary, detachment, understood as 'Nishkama Karma' (Action without desire for results) of Bhagavad Gita, makes us even more efficient in attaining our goals. In such efficiency-driven actions, the only point we have to remember is that our action should be ethical, i,e., we should not opt for actions that are morally evil. A person who is ready for action without desire for results will also be ready to leave the outcome of results to God. Thus a detached person gives space to God for His action and intervention in our lives. This is another way of living in the presence of God. (To be Contd).
Living in the Presence of God (The Way of Devotion - Bhakti Marg): It is the easiest way to realize God by self-realization as against Jnana Marg and Karma Marg, i.e., the way of knowledge and the of action. It consists in presenting ourselves as we are, with all our weaknesses and failings, before God. Here we are motivated by love alone and keeping the name of God constantly in our memory. One of the most common ills of present day society is forgetfulness. We are quick in forgetting the benefits received from others as well as from God and sharp in memory about hurts, insults and misfortunes that have come our way. This mental attitude keeps us away from self-realization and realization of God. It should be just the other way around. We should be quick in forgetting and forgiving any ill - treatment we may have received from others or any misfortune that may have fallen upon us in the past. Instead, try to think of all the good things that have happened to us and give thanks for the same. In this context, we see that it is God Himself whom we have to constantly thank and that is a way of living in His presence. Thanking God has to be more than verbal and has to be manifested in our daily life by our life-style! Our human tendency is to wait for miracles to happen to thank God and especially if it is connected with saving us from danger to our lives or some troubles in life. If we live in the presence of God , we shall not wait for such exceptional occasions to thank God but do it at every moment of our lives. Some might think of the impossibility of constantly living in the presence of God and thanking Him just like the perceived impossibility of always praying. They might reasonably think of the daily duties we have to perform as an obstacle to constantly living in the presence of God. It is a question here of combining our spiritual life and life in the world, that may be termed our secular life, into a wholesome unity. How can we, living in this world with all its cares, live in the power of the Spirit especially through love of God in as far as it is the same as living in the presence of God?
The Greatest Commandment: "One of the Pharisees who was a lawyer asked Jesus: 'Master, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?' He answered. 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart; with all your soul with all your mind'' That is the greatest commandment. It comes first. The second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself'. Everything in the Law and the Prophets hangs on these two commandments" (Matthew, 22: 35-40; See Deuteronomy, 6: 5). Some people would like to mix up the first and second commandments and say that loving God is the same as loving your neighbor and vice-versa. It is true that, in the Bible, love of neighbor verifies the genuineness of the love we have for God. However, it does not identify one with the other. In fact, in order to truly love our neighbor we have to first love God with our entire heart. How is it possible to love God with our entire heart and then love someone or something else at the same time? Here we have parallels in the other two problems mentioned above, namely, always praying and doing daily duties and living in the presence of God and being involved in activities in the world.
Two Senses: How shall we be able to combine our spiritual life and life in the world into a wholesome unity is the underlying problem in all of these cases. The answer to this consists in distinguishing between two senses of the realities behind words like 'love', 'presence' and 'prayer'. The first sense of these words would consist in their use in connection with our relationship with God alone. In this sense, our love for God would be manifested as undercurrents to our entire existence. All our actions would be suffused with the spirit of love of God. Just as in a river the undercurrents guide and direct all other currents on the surface of the river, our love for God co-exists with and directs our love for our neighbor. Similarly, our prayers would be in secret and addressed to the Father in heaven. Elements of contemplation, thanksgiving and glorification of the Father would be prominent in this kind of prayers. Our prayers in public and in community would be filled with the spirit of this kind of personal prayer Living in the presence of God would be a consequence of remembering what the Lord has done for us with a thankful heart and does not come in the way of our routine duties. It is similar to the attitude of a servant who looks after the children of his master as if they were his own. However, his mind and heart would be with his own children living in his hometown for whom he is actually working.
The second sense of the words 'love', 'presence' and 'prayer' would be found in their use in relation to our activities in the world. What is the guarantee that our love of neighbor is the right kind of love? It would be the right kind of love if this second sense of 'love' is governed by its first sense. Similar is the case with 'presence' and 'prayer' too. In short, our relationship with God (spirituality - the sacred) creates the right attitudes and the spirit that should guide our life in the world (secular life). Here a possible difficulty might crop up about the diverse internal laws that govern the spiritual world and the world we live in. Unless we go by the laws of the latter we cannot be expected to to get ahead in life. To make things worse, very often the spiritual and worldly values are diametrically opposed to each other.
Detachment: The solution to these difficulties can be found in the attitude of detachment we should have in our daily life. Detachment consists in the attitude of living in the world without being worldly, i.e., without the worldly values as opposed to spiritual values. Worldly possessions are a great drag on our spiritual nature and unless we get rid of these possessions we shall not grow spiritually. Our attitudes towards riches and possessions can either bind ourselves to them or free us from their clutches. If we are bound by the attractions of riches and possessions, the words of Jesus should awaken us: "It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God" (Mark, 10: 25). This freedom is achieved through detachment. Jesus called such people "poor in spirit" (Matthew, 5: 3), for although they may have riches and possessions they are not bound by their attractions. Their mind and heart are free to do good and show mercy to the poor and they never think of using their riches and influence gained through them to do any evil. These are the people who lead secular lives as against those who have decisively broken their bonds with the world by selling off all their possessions and distributing them to the poor (See Matthew, 19: 21).
Detachment, in other words, is a kind of death to the world and to one's own self. Unless we get rid of the worldly values and our own selfish outlooks, we can never grow in spiritual life. This is what Paul calls the death and resurrection of the baptized whereby a new person is born (See Romans, 6: 4-8). Jesus had spoken about this kind of rebirth to Nicodemus (See John, 3: 3). A dead person is impervious to all attractions and repulsion, to all praises and insults, success and failure and thereby remains detached from this world and the self. Similarly, a detached person looks at life from a quite new perspective and his or her priorities are dictated by the new life in the Spirit. This is the secular life we mentioned earlier as opposed to mere worldly life. In the present day world of rat-race competitions for everything, unless we follow the internal rules of those competitions, how can we ever hope to excel? The requirement of detachment is not against following such rules. On the contrary, detachment, understood as 'Nishkama Karma' (Action without desire for results) of Bhagavad Gita, makes us even more efficient in attaining our goals. In such efficiency-driven actions, the only point we have to remember is that our action should be ethical, i,e., we should not opt for actions that are morally evil. A person who is ready for action without desire for results will also be ready to leave the outcome of results to God. Thus a detached person gives space to God for His action and intervention in our lives. This is another way of living in the presence of God. (To be Contd).
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