Three Key Points of Spirituality

Contributed by

Vijay Saluja

Three important points to understand Spirituality are:

• Oneness: All of us see the world with our eyes, and we see the plurality and the variety in it. We see differences among things. However, there is one thing common to all. Seen from that angle every thing is one and not different. Plants, animals, birds and human being seem to be different from one and another, but the life principle, the consciousness factor is common in them, is one and the same. We should remain aware of this oneness and retain it in our vision of the world. If we see someone as different from us , we may have attachment, aversion or fear but if we have the vision of oneness, we will see the other as own, and fear or hatred will not arise. Hence in spiritual life , we should have the vision of oneness. Though our gross eyes may see the differences, our spiritual vision will show our own Self in all “madatma sarvbhutatma”—(myself is the Self in all). In worldly transactions we have to recognize the differences as mother, as father, friend etc., but from the spiritual point of view we must remember that they are all none but our ownself. This knowledge and awareness of oneness be retained through all our activities. This is the First point to remember.
• Detachment: Our life is full of activities. We have to work. In the Bhagavad Gita it is pointed out that no one can remain without working even for a second –na hi kaschit ksanamapani jatu tisthatyakarmakrt. The problem is that while doing the work, we get caught in it. There should be detachment while doing any work. This is the second point to remember. There should be oneness in vision and detachment (asangata) in action. We should not not have likes or dislikes in our activities .We should perform whatever duties come our way, with a calm mind, without labeling them as pleasant or unpleasant. A judge has to perform his duty, whether it is to release a prisoner or give him the death penalty. We should not let our personal likes or dislikes interfere with the performance of our duty. In military life , one simply obeys the orders; there is no question of likes or dislikes. So we should go ahead with the work in hand with the thought :”This is my duty at the moment; this is the worship of the LORD”. This is called detachment in action.
• Equipoise: Whatever activities we undertake will produce results. In acceoting the results ,we should have an attitude of “samata”,mental equipoise. We should not become unduly happy or unhappy with regard to the result of action. Often we tend to react with intense joy or severe disappointment. The Gita says : “samatvam yoga ucyate- equipoise of mind is called yoga” This is the third point to remember

In our vision we should have ekta (ONENESS), in our actions asangata (detachment)and regarding the results of action samata (equipoise).If we have this , we will find parsannata (happiness) This is the essence of adhyamikata (Spiritual Life )

(As explained by Swami Tejomayananda)