Spiritualism vs Materialism
By Veerendra Ekbote
The subject matter of this article itself denotes that Spiritual activities and Materialistic activities will never go hand in hand as Spiritual activities are concerned with Spirit soul and its elevation from the material world and materialistic activities are meant for material progress by the use of material knowledge and expertise. However Spiritualism meets materialism and Materialism meets Spiritualism where religion meets philosophy and philosophy meets spiritualism. For eg. the follower of Sanatan Dharma leads life as per the 4 Purusharthas and perform their occupation or activities as per Varnashram Dharma, so this is material activity performed everyday as per the person’s Varna. A Bramhin performs his teaching or preaching profession, a Kshatriya performs his duty of a soldier or administrator, a Vaishya performs his duty of a trader or moneylender and a Shudra performs his duty as a farmer or cultivator. So all these professions are material but if they are approved by religion i.e. by Varnashram dharma and follow the rules and regulations given by religion they become religious by nature. In English the word religion has come from religare which means to hold and in Sanskrit it is Dharma which means to uphold.
There is a vast difference between Religiosity and Spirituality and both are different because performing one’s own religious activities has nothing to do with spirituality of a person as Spiritual activities are meant to transcend the repeated cycle of birth and death irrespective of Varnashram or the religion that you follow as per your occupation. Philosophy is used to bind between Religiosity and Spirituality. Philosophy or Tattvagyan exists in religious books of Sanatan Dharma like Ramayan, Mahabharat Bhagvad Gita, SrimadBhagvatam Purana, 108 Upanishads, 6 schools of philosophy and Vedanta which guides and gives a person the necessary spiritual knowledge for his upliftment from material world and transcend the modes of material nature. Sanatan Dharma or religion is a way of life in this context and the religious and philosophical texts convey the message of spirituality to people who are engrossed in material activities and want to transcend the modes of material nature into the spiritual world. So the Puranic histories of Lord Ram, Lord Krishna and the incarnations of Lord Vishnu and their pastimes inspire people spiritually to follow devotional service to Supreme Lord Krishna and his Vishnu incarnations. The histories of Vishnu incarnations appear in Puranas that present deep spiritual aspects in story form to people. Lord Krishna conveyed the message of Bhagvad Gita to Arjun and SrimadBhagvatam was written by VedVyas after the disappearance of Lord Krishna to make us aware that we are not these material bodies but Spirit Souls and our primary duty is to serve the Supersoul in loving devotion through the process of devotional service or bhakti. It is Bhakti or devotional service which makes a devotee spiritually elevated as performance of Bhaktiyoga by a devotee makes him Self-realized and eligible for Supreme Lord’s mercy to escape repeated cycle of birth and death and stops the Spirit Soul’s process of reincarnating into 8400000 species. It is in the human form of life that a spirit soul achieves Spiritual body into the Spiritual world by the grace of Guru or Spiritual master and Supreme Lord.
Spirituality aims in recognizing the eternal and transcendental Spirit Soul i.e. Parmatma within us through the process of Self-realization which is acheived by the process of Naamjapa or Chanting of holy names which is prescribed for the present age of Kali for Supreme God realization. The other 3 processes to realize Supreme Lord was by meditation in Satyayuga, fire sacrifices in Tretayuga and deity worship in Dwaparyuga is not prescribed for this age of Kaliyuga since people in general have short duration of lifespan, are always quarreling and have imperfect senses, they have propensity to cheat and are under the illusory effect of Maya which makes them forget the process of Self-reallization. The Supreme Lord Krishna who is seated in the Supreme most Golokadham planet in Vaikuntha instructs Mahavishnu to create material universes for all the fallen conditioned Souls who were eternally staying with the Supreme Lord in the spiritual world in Vaikuntha. Since the Jivatma has his own free will and independence as like the Supreme Lord he takes birth in one of the 8400000 species as per his desire and free will in the material world wherein repeated birth and death occurs until he receives liberation by surrendering unto his eternal father Lord Krishna. However, when a Jivatma achieves the rare human birth he must enquire regarding the eternal Spirit Soul which dwells eternally within him by accepting a bonafide spiritual master to achieve the eternal spiritual world as per Vedanta i.e. Aham Bramhasmi, Athato Bramhajidnyasa which means I am spirit Soul, part and parcel of the SuperSoul and my duty is to acquire spiritual knowledge to get free from material bondage.
Since the material world is temporary having material miseries of repeated birth and death in every species and also the illusory energy Maya which is one of the many energies of the Supreme Lord that makes Jivatma forgetful to know about Supreme Lord Krishna because of Jivatma’s own Karmic actions and false ego. It is only in human birth by performing devotional service unto Lord Krishna a Jivatma can attain Lord Krishna’s mercy who delivers a fallen conditioned Soul from the material world and make him escape the repeated cycle of birth and death in this material world for which devotion to Lord Krishna is of utmost importance. The 33 crore administrative Gods that are part and parcel of Lord Krishna and remain dependant upon Lord Krishna because Lord Krishna is cause of all causes on whom the entire cosmic manifestation rests and he is present as the Supersoul or Parmatma within every Jivatma and in every non-living thing. So by just surrendering to Lord Krishna in devotion a Jivatma is eligible for liberation from this temporary material world as assured by Lord Krishna in Bhagvad Gita to Arjuna.
However, in this material world most of the people are indulged in materialistic activities which make them bound to the reaction of their Karma and don’t surrender the fruits of their actions to Lord Krishna by remaining detached. The person’s who are attached to the fruits of their action can never transcend the modes of material nature. In Bhagvad Gita’s culmination message Lord Krishna says to Arjuna and to the entire mankind to just surrender unto his lotus feet in loving devotion and the Supreme Lord will relieve that Jivatma from all his past sins and eventually grant him a place in his Supreme abode by assuring of not fearing by quitting the material body. Therefore whoever quits his material body by thinking and remembering of Lord Krishna at the time of death is transferred to the spiritual abode by the mercy of Lord Krishna.
So when the Supreme Lord Krishna is assuring us to perform devotional service unto him and when the Jivatma due to his false ego, attachment to material things is worshipping Demigods which grant temporary benedictions that are actually provided by Lord Krishna and ignorance that a person has towards Krishna consciousness due to illusory Maya stops the Jivatma from achieving liberation from repeated birth and death.
Merging in the Bramhan effulgence of a Yogi or impersonalists is not real liberation as after merging they are once again compelled to take birth in the material world by Lord Shiva who is the controller of Shivtattva. It is known as Sayujya mukti by Vaishnavas who do not desire it. The devotees of Lord Krishna, the Vaishnavas aim to associate with Lord Krishna eternally in loving devotion in Golokadham – the topmost in the spiritual world in any of the 5 Rasas as per the devotee’s Bhava of Shanta, Dasya, Sakhya Vatsalya and Madhurya Rasa. The devotees of 4 handed Vishnu form and other Vishnu incarnation gain access in one of the vaikuntha planets is also real liberation because they associate with Supreme Lord Vishnu in Vaikuntha which is the spiritual world that is known as Parattatva and the material world is known as Aparatattva. Paratattva or spiritual sky with its many 4 handed Vishnu form planets is three-forth whereas the Aparatattva i.e. material sky with its innumerable temporary material universes or Bramhandas where Lord Bramha and Lord Shiva are temporary creator and destroyer respectively is one-forth which is created from MahaVishnu in the Casual Ocean during his Yoganidra sleep. Our material universe whose creator is 4-headed Lord Bramha is one of such many universes created by MahaVishnu. MahaVishnu’s creation of material universes is separated by Viraja which lies at the border between spiritual sky and material sky. Beyond Viraja border that lies between material sky and spiritual sky the devotees of Vishnu incarnations and Lord Krishna are allowed to enter the spiritual sky by the mercy of Supreme Lord Krishna. The devotees and worshippers of Lord Narayan or Lord Vishnu and Lord Krishna who by their devotion or Bhakti transcend the material sky which should be the aim of human life to lead an eternal life in the transcendental world or spiritual world of Lord Hari in Vaikuntha where there are no miseries of repeated birth and death, where every living entity acquires spiritual body which is Satchidanand that is in the spiritual world or Vaikuntha a devotee acquires transcendental body which is full of eternity, bliss and knowledge and the currency in Vaikunthalokas is faith or Shraddha wherein the devotees experience ever-increasing happiness and bliss while serving the Supreme Lord in the mode of surrender with loving devotion. This is the eternal condition of a living entity or Jivatma in Spiritual world as described in SrimadBhagvatam which is a revealed scripture written by Sage VedVyas that vividly describes the spiritual world to the materialistic earthly people engaged in sense gratification so that by getting a glimpse of the spiritual world and its eternal existence the people will practice Krishna consciousness and revive their lost link through the process of Bhaktiyoga which is sublime to perform and re-establish their eternal loving relationship with Lord Krishna.
The materialistic people are engrossed in their own activities of economic development and sense gratification and are unaware of the eternal Spirit Soul within them. They want to enjoy ever increasing material enjoyment by not following any Shastric injunctions as is mentioned in religious books and thus take repeated birth and death due to their actions which result in Karmic bondage. They don’t realize that this temporary human life is not meant for sense gratification and enjoyment but for self-realization in which a person acquires spiritual knowledge from his spiritual master – Guru who destroys the darkness created from material nescience. Self realization is the first step of a person to know his spiritual nature and to be the servant of God and getting liberation from repeated birth and death by the mercy of Lord Krishna. Therefore in
Bhagvad Gita 15th chapter, 1st verse Lord Krishna describes in the
Purushottam yoga that the material world is the reflection of the spiritual world wherein the spiritual tree is inverted with roots in the spiritual world and the branches and leaves in the material world. This indicates spiritualism is always opposite to materialism and to achieve the spiritual world a person should know that he is not this material body but spirit Soul and should take shelter of a bonafide spiritual master (Guru) and should enquire from him spiritual knowledge which leads to transcendence. A bonafide spiritual master comes in the disciplic chain of Gurus who impart spiritual transcendental knowledge to the seeker and makes him eligible to enter the spiritual world.
To achieve the final goal of human life for getting liberation or achieving spiritual world wherein the seeker escapes the repeated cycle of birth and death, Lord Krishna instructed in Bhagvad Gita about Naishkarmya to Karmis in which a person performing work is not bound to the actions of work as he is surrendering the fruit of his action to Lord Krishna. To Gyanis Lord Krishna instructed to take the knowledge of Spirit Soul which differentiates from material body and perform actions in detachment from material body wherein they will transcend the repeated cycle of birth and death and come to him. In Gyanyoga the Yogis meditate upon Parmatma which is situated in their own heart and achieves liberation by merging in the Bramhan effulgence of the Supreme Lord. Finally Lord Krishna instructs Bhaktiyogis or those who are engaged in devotional service unto him to surrender at his lotus feet in which the Supreme Lord himself takes charge of the devotee and the devotee executes his duties fearlessly surrendering the fruits of his action to Krishna. Thus where all the Yogic processes end of knowing and realizing the Supreme Lord, Bhaktiyoga starts which is the topmost, sublime and easiest processes to achieve love and mercy of Godhead for achieving the spiritual world by the grace of Lord Krishna. All these various Yogic processes link a person to the Supreme Lord and make his path clear to go back to the spiritual world.
However, a person who is trained under his bonafide Spiritual master easily transcends the modes of material nature and attains the Spiritual world due to the mercy of Spiritual master and Supreme Lord.
Lord Balram is the original Guru of all the Gurus in both the spiritual and material universes for he is the immediate expansion of Lord Krishna and is the cause of Sankarshan Bhagvan. Lord Vasudev Krishna alongwith Shankarshan expand into quadruple expansion of Pradyumna and Anniruddha to form the quadruple Narayan or MahaVishnu expansion. Vaishnavas gain access to Vaikuntha or spiritual world by the mercy of the original Guru – Balram. So it is rightly said that the spiritual master or Guru acts a representative to reach God who guides his disciple on the path of Self-realization in this life which eventually leads to liberation or Mukti. Lord Balram after seeing the devotion of a devotee recommends the fallen conditioned Soul to Radharani – the queen of Vrindavan who then requests her beloved Lord Krishna for liberation of fallen Soul who by performing devotional service wants to escape repeated birth and death and eternally serve RadhaKrishna in Golokadham in Vaikuntha.
It is VedVyas who is the Guru for this age of Kali because at the start of Kaliyuga he composed SrimadBhagvatam Purana which is a running commentary on his Vedanta sutra. Vedanta is meant to realize the Supreme truth by 3 steps, first by establishing Sambandh Gyan, then by developing Abhidheya Gyan and then finally establishing or realizing the Supreme truth by Prayojana Gyan with the help of Spiritual master. Bhagvatam was composed 5100 years ago by VedVyas but its interpretations were given by 6 Vedantists who commented on VedVyasa’s Vedanta sutra were Adi Shankaracharya who propounded Advaita Vedanta or monism which revived Vedic Dharma in Bharat by defeating the Shunyavadi ot voidistic Buddhists. The original Vedanta sutra of Vyasa was propounded by Madhvacharya in 12th century known as Dwaita or dualism wherein the SuperSoul and individual Soul always remain separate eternally.
The 4 bonafide sects in Vaishnavism were BramhaMadhva sect from Lord Bramha in whose succession Madhvacharya appeared in south India and preached Dwaita Vedanta, Ramanujanacharya in 12th century established Srisampradaya from Laxmidevi and presented Vishishtadwaita – specific oneness and dualism.
Vishnuswami belonged to Rudra sampradaya and established Shuddhadwaita Vedanta in which he propounded the Vedanta of pure dualism and Nimbarkacharya propounded Dwaitadwaita Vedanta in Kuman sampradaya in which the Spirit soul has either the choice to merge in Bramhan effulgence or to associate eternally with the Supreme Lord in spiritual world.
The 6th Vedantist who appeared in BramhaMadhvaGaudiya sampradya was Chaitanya Mahaprabhu who is Lord Krishna himself appearing as Lord Krishna’s devotee and spread the Sankirtan movement also gave commentary on Vedanta Sutra of Vyasdev which is Achintyabhedabhed Tattva that is simultaneous inconceivable oneness and difference. All these Vedantists established their own lineage of spreading spiritual knowledge to the masses by initiating many Vaishnav devotees to their particular Guru-Shishya parampara, build temples and even attracted non-devotees in Satsang programs wherein a person gets realization regarding spiritual knowledge.
Thus any materialistic person who is ignorant about his own self which is eternal and is very proud of his material possessions and opulences and is engaged in enjoying sense gratification for his material body which is destructible must realize that this rare human life is for attaining eternal spiritual experience in the Spiritual world which is devoid of repeated birth and death. If a gross materialist realizes that he is a Spirit Soul and not his temporary body he will dovetail his material interests with spiritual activities by chanting holy names, visiting Lord Krishna temples, attending satsangs, reading spiritual books, taking prasadam and doing Vaishnavseva which will eventually give him liberation from the material world by the mercy of his bonafide spiritual master in any one of the 5 Vaishnav sampradayas as all the sampradayas are bonafide and have spiritual origin in antiquity which is the only way to get liberated from illusory Maya that acts more upon a materialistic person then a devotee of Krishna because wherever there is Krishna, there is no Maya and a Jivatma’s constitutional position is to serve Krishna in loving devotion – Jivera swarupen nitya Krishnadas haya.
All the major sampradayas during the Bhakti movement which started from 12th century and reached its peak in the 17th century when Saint Tukaram preached amongst the Warkari Vaishnavas in Maharashtra achieved Vaikunthaloka by attaining Sadeha Mukti or traveled to Vaikuntha with his body on Garuda Viman sent by Lord Hari as the Supreme Lord got pleased by Saint Tukaram’s devotional service in his lifetime which inspired many people. Lord Chaitanya was the spiritual master of saint Tukaram who instructed him the Hare Krishna Mahamantra in his ears which Tukaram transformed as Jai Jai Ram Krishna Hari to the masses.
It is said that non-devotees who are engaged in sinful activities are destined to go to hellish planets after death by Yamadutas. However those who are Lord Krishna and Lord Vishnu worshippers attain Vaikuntha due to their devotional service unto the Supreme Lord by thinking about Lord Hari and his holy names at the time of death. Lord Krishna then dispatches his Vaishnavdutas to take the devotee eternally to the Spiritual world. To conclude materialism is opposite of Spiritualism and anyone can elevate himself to the Spiritual world by practicing devotional service which is the topmost, sublime and easiest way to attain love of Godhead. Lord Krishna is present within each Soul as SuperSoul. A person who realizes his self through Naamjapa and has surrendered his false ego unto Lord Krishna while executing devotional service which is of 9 types beginning with Sravanam, Kritanam, Vandanam, Visno-smaranam, Pujanam, Sakhyam, Dasyam, Padsevanam and Atma-nivedanam attracts the mercy of Lord Krishna and is eligible to transcend the material world. Thus a seeker or devotee who is guided by Spiritual master or Guru who removes our material ignorance and gives us spiritual knowledge is respected for he helps the devotee in overcoming his shortcomings or mistakes in spiritual life and helps him in transcending the material world to be eternally with the Supreme Lord. Lord Krishna accepted Sandipani muni as his Guru and Lord Ram accepted Vashistha muni and then Vishwamitra Muni as their spiritual masters. On the eve of GuruPournima this article is dedicated to all Gurus for showing us the enlightening path to get rid of temporary material nature and accept the eternal spiritual nature of Supreme God in the spiritual world.
|| Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare |
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare ||
- Written on Guru Pournima Utsav dated 31/7/2015.
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