For That Spiritual Experience

By Kishor Kulkarni
There are five aspects of spirituality – the objective, the why of spirituality, the means for attaining the objective, who pursues spirituality and when.

Objective of spirituality is to transcend the limited bodily identity and experience the oneness of the single whole that this creation is.

Why should, or rather, why does, one pursue spirituality? We can start by saying that one gets a desire to pursue spirituality and hence goes ahead with it. Then comes the question, why does one person get that desire and why don’t thousands of others get it? The only answer to this question can be that the Creator wants it that way.

The means of attaining the objective can vary from one person to another. But they must essentially serve the purpose of transcending the physical world. And physical world and our bodily identity are two sides of the same coin. Many tend to argue that spirituality cannot be divorced from worldly living as spirituality basically entails living normally, albeit with an attitude that i am something more than the physical body. While this may make sense to most spiritual seekers, there is a danger that it will amount to nothing more than hypocrisy. One may continue to merrily indulge in worldly pursuits and simply keep telling himself now and then that there is a soul beyond the body. That will be self-deception. It is unlikely to bring any spiritual experiences to such a person.

Many believe that spirituality means living in a noble way – by practicing honesty, integrity, charity, selflessness and other such noble qualities. These are, no doubt, an important preparation towards attaining the ultimate objective. As gurus say, such ‘satkarmas’ lead to accumulation of ‘shuddha punya, credit for good deeds. However, this is not the be-all-end-all of spirituality for it would confuse means with the end. If one falls into that trap, it may amount to walking on a tread mill when, in fact, one wants to reach a destination! Yes, he will get the side benefit of shedding some unnecessary fat. But he won’t be progressing towards the ultimate goal. Without vairagya or detachment, it might not lead to the ultimate goal of Self-realisation.

Now about the “who” part. Satkarmas leading to accumulation of shuddha punya are like a walk towards the gate to the ultimate destination. However, for the ultimate experience, one has to enter the other side through the gate. Now, it is Here an element of divine grace is required. The reason to bring in the aspect of divine grace is because how the selection is made is not known to us, nor can it be understood. That is why even Jesus Christ said that the gate is narrow and many will jostle to enter; but only a few will manage to get in. However, a seeker desirous of attaining the ultimate goal must put in his best efforts. That is the only thing within his capacity.

When does one go on to the spiritual path? It may depend on many complex factors, including past karma. So, an easy answer would be that it depends on the sovereign plan of the Creator.

Spiritual experiences cannot be had through one or more of our five bodily senses. They are the kind that can be perceived directly from inside in one’s consciousness. For this to be possible, one has to have a really intense desire for it. He has to switch the physical world off completely for as long as possible. Only then can he make himself eligible for receiving spiritual experience.

Get Ready To Receive The Truth

By Farida Khanam

A milkman, deeply influenced by Gautama Buddha insisted that Buddha visit him and share his nuggets of wisdom. In lieu of this, the milkman offered to present milk to Buddha. The Buddha agreed. In the evening when Buddha set out to visit the milkman he took with him a container in which he intentionally put some mud. The milkman took the container but just as he was about to pour milk into it, realised that the container had some impurity. So he cleansed the container and removed all the impurities. He then poured the milk into it and gave it to the Buddha.

Upon receiving the container, the Buddha got up to leave. Surprised, the milkman asked him why was he leaving before imparting any wisdom. The Buddha replied that he just had. He explained to the milkman that the mind is similar to the container and thoughts that preoccupy us are like the impurities he found in the container. To attain wisdom, we must purify the mind by making it free of all impure thought. The Buddha asked the milkman to cleanse himself of his thoughts as only then will he be able to imbibe any further learning.

First empty your mind; only then you can make room for wisdom to come in. Prepare the mind to face situations in a way that enables you to harness its potential. Living with a mind that is narcisstic will impede progress. A life that is full of ego leaves no room for receptivity as one thinks about nothing else other than its own self.

Trying to deride the discovery of a scientist, a man once said to him that all discoveries were nothing but chance occurrences. Calmly, the scientist replied: “You are right. But such chances took place only with the scientists.” This was a befitting answer. It is only a prepared mind that is able to achieve the goal. There is nothing mysterious about it. It is quite understandable that only a mind that has engrossed itself in trying to unravel a phenomenon, would eventually decipher it. However, a price must be paid to attain such a state – that price is working hard to prepare the mind to receive. To make the mind receptive, you need to be sincere in your efforts, objective and unbiased in your approach and ready to admit a mistake and reassess your approach to the target.

I recall here an anecdote about the famous Sufi saint – Bahaullah. He once visited another saint Fariduddin for receiving guidance. Bahaullah gained the wisdom in a very short span of time. Seeing this some other of Fariduddin’s disciple accused him of favouritism. As Fariduddin heard of these charges, he told his disciple that Bahaullah was like dry wood while all of them are like wet wood. This was a classic example of receptivity. Dry wood is highly combustible and catches fire easily. High levels of receptivity enable us to imbibe spiritual guidance.

In order to be receptive to truth, one must make the effort to be ready to recognize and receive the truth. Human beings have become conditioned entities on account of habit. It is this conditioning that is a major obstacle on the path. To be able to overcome this hurdle, we must be ready to revisit existing ideas; be willing to rise above all kinds of biases and prejudices and become receptive to truth that may come from anywhere.

The writer teaches Islamic studies at Jamia Millia Islamia.
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