Whenever I see the image of saints and enlightened beings, what triggers in my mind is the lifestyle, which they lived. Their lifestyle speaks volumes about their thoughts, intentions, desires, and what they want to achieve. When we are unable to fathom the lifestyle of such enlightened beings, then we say that they have given an idea, a thought, a philosophy or a religion. Actually, they have not given anything.
After thinking for many years, I have come to the conclusion that there is no such thing as philosophy. Philosophy is a creation of a mind which does not grasp the details of wisdom. People who live the correct life, do not have to look at the details, because they are living it. I do not believe that there is anything such as moral and ethical teaching in the world. Everything is a natural expression of human personality. You can speak an untruth, a lie, deceive people, be jealous, be angry, and that is all accepted as a natural way of life. However, for you to be truthful, it becomes a moral teaching.
There is definitely something wrong with human under-standing of the good things that we can achieve and experience in life, and the negative and the destructive that we express continuously in life. For the people who are expressing the tamasic any positive idea can be a philosophy. However, for those who are pursuing the sattwic way of life, philosophy is nothing but an expression of the clean and pure intention of the individual.
The lives of saints show us that. Buddha did not come to teach philosophy, or to establish a religion. He came to teach how to transcend the suffering that we experience in life, yet instead of looking at that as the core of his teachings, people who did not understand what his intention was, said it was a religion. The same happened with Christ, who was just teaching a way to live a bhakta’s life. A bhakta is a person who is immersed in the higher nature, the higher consciousness. By living a bhakta’s life, one develops compassion and love, and recognizes that everyone is a child of God. Jesus lived that life.
In our own tradition, we have Swami Sivanandaji and Swami Satyanandaji, who have adopted what one can call universalism. They have not only adopted and accepted it, but also lived universalism. Sri Swamiji accepted everyone whether from any form of Christianity, Islam, Hinduism or any other religious tradition in the world. He said, ‘These are all different paths to reach the same destination, and therefore they must be honoured, respected and lived.’ Sri Swamiji lived those principles.
Spiritual principles are not Christian, Islamic, Hindu or Buddhist. They are universal principles, and a person who can live these principles has a universalist mind. The universalist mind sees the essence of everything, and not the form. This is how a knowledgeable person should live. One can derive inspiration from this, for it the lifestyle which is the real teaching, not what is spoken or written in books. What is spoken and written in books can be interpreted in a hundred different ways, by the knowledgeable and by the ignorant. What is realized and when it is lived, is the real thing which needs no interpretation, no belief and no dogma.
That life is an expression of the purity and luminosity of your nature. Therefore, instead of reading words and trying to interpret words that are written, take inspiration from how the saints lived, and challenge yourself to live like that.
25 December 2024, Ganga Darshan, Munger