Friday, September 2, 2011

# 005 Who or what is God: it is for you to find out yourself !!

Dr. S.I. Tulaev, Russian Indologist : A man who has no belief in religion, who does not adopt any rituals, never goes to the temple or church, does not heed any dogmas, but always thinks good and does good throughout his life. Could you kindly tell me, Sir, whether such a man has any salvation at the end of his life?
Mahaperiyaval (Chandrashekarendra Swamigal):  Yes.
His Holiness : (enlarging His answer) " Do not think that I am giving you this answer. No, this is said in our ancient scriptures themselves. There are different types of aspirants.
The Agnostics, those who enquire into the concept of God and by using their own reasoning, come to the conclusion that there is no God.
Secondly there are the Buddhists, especially the Sunyavadins, who believe in non-existence.
Thirdly the Jains, who believe in suffering by putting their body to various austerities, vratas.
Fourthly Saivaites, Vaishnavites and others who believe in a personal God and spend their life in devotion; and
Lastly the Advaitins, who believe that the entire world, the cosmic reality is the apparent manifestation of one and the same ultimate Reality.
All these aspirants get to the truth. The difference between them lies in their proximity to God (Truth). If one enquired into the nature of God by using his own mind, whatever is the conclusion arrived at, even if it is a total rejection of Godhood, such an aspirant is far higher than the idler who never worries about the search after truth. This also is not my saying but is from our scriptures only."
I am sure every human being at some point of time in his/her life  starts wondering on what the ultimate reality is and starts asking fundamental questions like who am I, how life or consciousness manifested in this body, what is the purpose of life, who or what is God etc..
I have started asking these questions. Have you?
And fortunately I have found some very credible answers from Vedas - like the one above from Mahaperiyaval down to incredible number of other great Acharyas - opening up a clear trail in an otherwise jungle. Journey has just begun. It is said there is no end to this journey.