Mandalam Musings Day 12 - Accessing the Divine within

 

Mandalam Musings Day 12

Accessing the Divine within

 Once a person decides to seek the truth, he has got two clear paths in front of him. One is a relatively easier path of following the prescribed methods of religious rituals with full faith that may even be a blind belief.  Second is the path of self-inquiry, with an open mind to study and try out the directions provided by pioneers who have already walked the path. Sanathana Dharma does not ask of a seeker to subscribe to the path of blind faith, although such faiths are not alien to our culture either. We follow a pluralistic philosophy where diverse views are not only tolerated but encouraged and celebrated.

That is the reason why we have an array of 330 million Gods and Goddesses! Among these, we see plants, living creature forms of animals of land and water, birds, and humans. We see inanimate images made of stones and wood, with umpteen different names and forms. We see nature itself as God and God’s myriad ways of expression. However, our dharma sees all these varied forms as expressions of the same ultimate reality, Brahman. “Ekam Sat, Viprah Bahuda Vdanti” Truth is one, but men of wisdom talk about it in diverse ways.

In the Indian philosophical thoughts, we consider six main ones as the ‘Shad Drashanas’ - Boudham, Charvvakam, Naiiyyaayikam, Jainam, Saamkhyam, and Yoga. The Santhathana Dharma is so diverse in its character that even the atheistic philosophy – Charvvakam is also an accepted line of thought. In this, there are adwaitha followers and dwaitha followers, and everyone in the spectrum between. The scriptures such as Ramayana and Mahabharata, etc., are considered illustrative examples of life expounded in the Vedas. In those scriptures, it is also mentioned that the stories that appear in them are ‘na tu paramarthyam’ (not true, as really occurred in a physical sense). Quoting this, some argue that all the scriptural stories are just a few cock and bull stories. The Sanatana Dharma has no quarrel with people who consider those stories as mere fiction, but it insists that there is room for people who consider the inspirational stories in those scriptures are true and real for their life’s purpose and conviction. Stories related to Lord Ayyappa are also such scriptural episodes and those who want to be inspired by the wisdom are encouraged to drink in the life-uplifting nectar they provide.

We have the same right to see a Devata form in a piece of rock and not to see one. A person can choose whether to worship an image of God or not. A sculpturer is not really creating a new form when he carves a shape, he is merely chipping away everything in that piece of stone that is not the image he conceives from it. Whatever form of God we choose, or we choose a God concept with no name and form, or even if one chooses not to have a belief in the concept of God, Sanathana Dharma does not have any issue with those concepts. All paths lead him to the ultimate destination, whether he recognizes it or not. Depending on the sincerity and intensity of the chosen path, the efficacy may be differing.