Tag: institution

Enrollment alone will not help us progress to perfection

Many of us are enrolled in various programs… the program is designed to help us progress… but most of those enrolled don’t make any progress. Is enrollment alone sufficient to make progress?

My dear reader… consider this… suppose a student enrolls in a course of study at a prestigious university… Everywhere our student friend goes, they advertise… “I’m a student of such-and-such-course in so-and-so university”. Our student friend is met with pats on the back, and nods of approval… “yes”, everyone seems to say “that is a fantastic program at a great university”, and our student friend is quite pleased at this.

That’s it, our student friend is content with enrollment. Post-enrollment, apart from the bragging about the program they are enrolled in, we find that our student does not do anything else…

  • Attends no classes
  • Reads no textbooks
  • Does no research
  • Submits no assignments
  • Works on no projects
  • Does no practical work
  • Learns nothing about what they’re supposed to learn in that program
  • …

Now, my dear reader, would you expect our student friend to graduate, or even be allowed to stay on in the program?

Not at all! At minimum, our friend the student would forfeit their fees, potentially be kicked out of the program, and most definitely not get to see graduation!

We all would agree that this kind of enrollment in a program with no work done is of no real benefit.

And yet, the world is full of such students, enrolled in various Universities…

  • Hinduism
  • Christianity
  • Islam
  • Judaism
  • Buddhism
  • Jainism
  • Sikhism
  • this-ism
  • that-ism
  • …

Yes, my dear reader, all of these are universities… meant to teach us most important things:

  1. Who we are, Be who we are
  2. Know God, Love God
  3. Know that everything and everyone is God’s, to love, cherish, and engage in the service of God

Each of these “universities” was created to cater to a particular set of persons, in a particular time, place, and circumstance.

And yet, there are so many who are “enrolled”, but are not doing any of the work needed to actually graduate.

What is graduation? Graduation means spiritual perfection, which is an eternally ever-increasing thing, there is no limit to perfection. Perfection is a journey.

yasmin vijñāte sarvam evaṁ vijñātaṁ bhavati (Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad 1.3)

According to this Vedic injunction, simply by understanding Kṛṣṇa one understands Brahman, Paramātmā, prakṛti, the illusory energy, the spiritual energy and everything else. Everything will be revealed.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/6/16/53-54/

Such a person who has graduated from their “university” manifests love and compassion at every moment and acts for the benefit of the whole world.

What is that ultimate benefit?

तव कथामृतं तप्तजीवनं
कविभिरीडितं कल्मषापहम् ।
श्रवणमङ्गलं श्रीमदाततं
भुवि गृणन्ति ये भूरिदा जना: ॥ ९ ॥

tava kathāmṛtaṁ tapta-jīvanaṁ
kavibhir īḍitaṁ kalmaṣāpaham
śravaṇa-maṅgalaṁ śrīmad ātataṁ
bhuvi gṛṇanti ye bhūri-dā janāḥ

The nectar of Your words and the descriptions of Your activities are the life and soul of those suffering in this material world. These narrations, transmitted by learned sages, eradicate one’s sinful reactions and bestow good fortune upon whoever hears them. These narrations are broadcast all over the world and are filled with spiritual power. Certainly those who spread the message of Godhead are most munificent.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/10/31/9/

Alas, despite the world being filled with people professing all kinds of faith, there are so few who broadcast the glories of the Lord in this way.

We see persons of all kinds of faith lacking the basic qualities that their tradition aims to inculcate… persons of “faith” but without compassion, without tolerance, without understanding, without knowledge, without purity, without simplicity, without love, without care, without human qualities even!

So what is to be done, my dear reader?

Go deep, deep, deeper into the University you are enrolled in.

In general, you may find you are at one of these levels:

  • Atheism – the school of blind faith regarding God
  • Agnosticism – the school of blind doubt
  • Gnosticism – the school of unclear knowledge about God
  • Impersonalism – the school of detailed knowledge, mixed with envy of God
  • Fear of God – where God is known, and feared, out of ignorance
  • Fruitive Religion – Where God is treated as an Order Supplier
  • Dutiful Religion – Where God is adored and worshipped out of Duty
  • Pure Love of God – Where God is Loved and Served in Loving Devotion

Different “Universities” cater to different profiles of students… you have the ones for really bright students, the ones where you can get a sports scholarship, ones where the standards aren’t that high, the ones meant for rich people, and so on… ultimately, you need to decide how far your University can take you.

If you find that your institution is a vocational college and not really very deep in terms of giving you full spiritual perfection, then, search out that deeper place, where all the information about God is fully available, and you get the pure unadulterated knowledge… and you get theory, practice, and examples of role models actually practicing perfection.

But, coming back to the original point, simply labeling yourself as a Hindu, Muslim, Christian, or any other “ism” is not sufficient. You need to actually go deep into your tradition and learn everything there is to learn, experience everything there is to experience, serve in every possible way, and strive for spiritual advancement at every step. You cannot afford to be complacent, because human life is rare, and human life is short.

Here are some humble suggestions from this servant of the servant of God…

  • Know that Religion, singular, is one… Religions, plural, is another name for politics
  • Read your scripture
  • Understand it deeply by discussion, don’t be lazy about it
  • Follow your religious tenets carefully, pragmatically, not fanatically
  • Read scriptures from other traditions
  • Observe the principles, don’t get hung up on the details of the differences
  • Be tolerant, patient, enthusiastic, and compassionate to others
  • Practice your faith, every moment, every day
  • Try and understand other traditions by principles
  • Focus on the common denominator in spiritual life
  • Know that God is the God of all creatures, not just people, not just your faith tradition
  • Proof of the pudding? Do you love God? Do you love all that is God’s?

Are you just enrolled, or are you on your way to graduating?

Hare Krishna!

People must care for people

Spiritual organizations are great. But personal care to a soul can only be given by another soul. Individuals must take care of individuals, regardless of any organizational systems in place…

Are you on the spiritual journey? Maybe you even belong to some spiritual organization? A church? A mosque? A temple? Some other spiritual society or religious association?

Do you have people around you on your path? You need to take care of them, you can’t expect your organization to. Why is that?

Have you ever read a scripture or spiritual text from any tradition where individuals were not directly mentioned? Was there ever an organizational body that interacted in a touching way with an individual? There’s a reason for that! Organizations are good for building processes, providing infrastructure, and many other nice organizational things. But no organization can connect to a soul. A soul can connect to a soul though.

There is no doubt that organizations are very useful. They allow propagation of spiritual ideals in a systematic manner. While not all organizations are necessarily “ideal” though they may well be based on some lofty ideals, they make for effective vehicles to convey the vision, mission, and work intended.

Organizations are usually full of people, no? Yes, organizations do not, cannot, and ultimately will not take care of people in a personal way. Organizations are designed to take care of themselves, to self-propagate. This is necessary of course, because an organization that does not take care of itself usually disappears very quickly. Even when organizations try to take care of people, they do so only to protect or grow the organization itself. So does that mean organizations are evil?

While some organizations may indeed be evil, it is not necessarily evil for an organization to take care of itself. After all, if the organization does not remain, how on earth can it spread the purpose it came into being for?

The people within the organization, especially the ones in management positions often cannot see the individuals for who they are. So, what can be done about this?

Well, souls are uniquely enabled take care of other souls. Whether you are just a layperson in the organization or an office-bearer… don’t forget, you need to put aside your organizational/management hat and be a human to be able to take care of someone. To really take care of someone, you need to be on the pure spiritual platform, to see others as spirit souls, and not just theoretically.

After all, the ultimate purpose of the spiritual organization is to servr souls, but to do so in a personal, relatable way takes personal effort from individuals.

This may mean taking a phone call in the middle of the night, or attending bail hearings. It may mean organizing funerals or taking some meals for someone. It may mean offering a shoulder to cry on or a safe spot for someone to vent their anger. It may mean buying groceries for someone, or arranging to take someone to a doctor’s appointment. It may mean connecting souls to each other.

No matter how accomplished of a spiritual leader you may be, how enlightening or inspiring your talks might be – you need to take the time to individually care for people, really serve them in a personal way.

I remember that my spiritual master and mentors have given me that care. They went above and beyond organizational mandates and made time to help me at the level I was at. It made a BIG difference to me!

ye me bhakta-janāḥ pārtha na me bhaktāś ca te janāḥ

mad-bhaktānāṁ ca ye bhaktās te me bhakta-tamā matāḥ

“[Lord Kṛṣṇa told Arjuna:] ‘Those who are My direct devotees are actually not My devotees, but those who are the devotees of My servant are factually My devotees.’

https://vedabase.io/en/library/cc/madhya/11/28/

My desire is to be a humble personal servitor of the people in my spiritual organization. I wish to establish personal relationships with them. Because, my organization, however amazing, certainly cannot and will not. Neither will yours. Yes, it is inconvenient to go out of your way, but if not you, then who?

Please be that ambassador of God and care for His souls. Individually and personally, just as God is taking care of you.