Essence of Spirituality

Essence of Spirituality

© Sabari Ganesh; “All Rights Reserved” 
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            I am a common man. I am basically a good human being. I believe in a super power that is omnipresent, omnipotent and omniscient. I call it GOD. I believe and love that GOD in the form of Lord Ganesha. I begin going to temples and earnestly pray to Lord Ganesha. My prayers mature to an extent that, I bring home an idol/ a portrait of my Lord Ganesha and start worshipping it. I perceive the idol as the living form of my Lord Ganesha.

            I spend hours at a stretch thinking of the qualities of my Lord Ganesha. My attitude towards my fellowmen takes a change as my prayers mature. I start regarding every person with respect and love. I am so very completely filled with the thoughts of my Lord Ganesha that I lose myself to HIM. I regard Lord Ganesha as the performer through me. I begin to lose my ego to Lord Ganesha.

            It is when, I hear about a swamiji. He has a huge following of disciples. Whatever he says comes true - is what I hear. He too is seen worshipping Lord Ganesha. I go to him and find him to be a person revered by many. I begin visiting him often and start spending many hours with him. I am completely engrossed at the magnitude of the worship accorded to my Lord Ganesha at his place - the ashram.

            I begin to follow his advice; most of which are as laid in the scriptures and holy books. Years roll on and my faith in him strengthens. I see him as an embodiment of my favourite Lord Ganesha. I believe that Lord Ganesha, pleased with my prayers so long, has taken this human form to bless me and interact with me.

            As my faith in him strengthens beyond any fathoming limits, I get to hear about the vile activities of my revered swamiji. The media and reporters flood my space with news of negative and despicable acts of my swamiji, whom I regard as an embodiment of Lord Ganesha. I get hurt beyond limits. When I realise that the news of the wicked and disgraceful acts of my swamiji were all factual, I get totally shattered.

            I lose my ability to face the people of my kith and kin due to the shame arising out of the blind faith that I had kept on this swamiji, and the pride in the belief of having received the blessings of my Lord Ganesha in this human form. My kith and kin laugh at me as the swamiji whom I so long revered is a fake. I begin to face intense turmoil in my mind as my faith in him was true and sincere.

            The intense turmoil in my mind, initiates a process of introspection in me. I start chewing my days spent with him and the reasons thereof. This throws light on one crucial aspect. GOD is true, no debate on this. I worshipped GOD in the form of Lord Ganesha, with an idol representing him. Till here it is just my faith and the supreme being alone. If it is true that I had totally surrendered to Lord Ganesha, then it is the Lord Ganesha who is the prime reason  for me to regard this swamiji as an embodiment of my Lord.

            So long, so good; but now it has been proved that the person whom I revered as my Lord is a cheat. Tracing back logically, It is Lord Ganesha - the supreme being who made this person intersect in my life. The supreme being can never be wrong. My faith and surrender to my Lord is definitely true and sincere without any show-off. In such a case, when I have the protective cover of my Lord, the present turn of events that showcase negativity is a test in disguise of my faith in my Lord Ganesha.

            The moment I perceive the negativity of events that has surrounded me as a test of my faith and belief, it becomes a magical moment wherein I start emanating positive energy from within myself. The scenario is such that, I am presented with a choice - My beloved Ganesha who is wrong; and my perception of truth. I can never hold anyone wrong, if I cannot perceive truth. Hence the choice before me is valid. Now, I can either subdue to my feelings - my love of the form Ganesha or uphold the truth irrespective of my feelings.

            If it is a fact that I am basically a good human being; then it is imperative that I uphold moral values, truth and justice even at the cost of my beloved form - Lord Ganesha aka my swamiji. This is precisely the test of time, when a person exhibits the inner strength by transcending various forms of GOD with the ability to perceive truth and justice at the substratum. Every form of GOD has to be an embodiment of truth and justice to be revered.

            An instance of such an event is evident in the life of poet Nakkheeran, who adorned the cabinet of the Pandiya king in Madurai. When we are able to uphold truth and justice at the cost of our beloved form of the Lord, we actually mature to higher realms of spirituality. Our perception gains subtlety and an analysis of the inherent impermanency of life gets initiated. Our witnessing the incessant fight of injustice with justice, falsehood with truth matures us to understand that as long as good exist, bad too exist; hence the fight is definitely incessant.

            My intense prayers to Lord Ganesha and my love of the form of Lord Ganesha was at a stage when I perceived multiple subjects. My prayers have never gone futile as it is the result of the sincerity of my prayers and humility that I have matured to perceive duality. From many to just two.

            The path is now very clear and clean. As long as good exist, bad too exist. As long as justice exist, injustice too exist. This perception of duality place before us a choice - Good or Bad. The test a little while ago was the choice - Good or my favourite that is proved bad. The moment we choose good here, we transcend feelings to become expansive. The only way to eternal peace is to transcend duality.

            Transcending duality signifies the presence of just I and nothing else. This is called solitude. Solitude is Bliss. Adwaitham. The undercurrent to realise solitude is the upkeep of positive thoughts at any point of time. Positive thoughts emanate from humility. Humility is the essence of spirituality.