Scriptural Knowledge and Abominable Scoundrels
Question 1: I have known people who can volubly quote chunks of verses from the scriptures but they seem to have serious moral turpitude. How do we reconcile their vast knowledge with their character defect?
Answer 1: "Quoting scriptures is....not a sign to indicate the spiritual development of a person. A man may recite the whole of the Vedas, the Upanishads, the Brahma Sutras; and yet he may be the greatest and the most abominable scoundrel." (pg. 24, Satsanga and Svadhyaya by Swami Sivananda)
["Scoundrel" refers to a dishonest or unscrupulous (=having or showing NO moral principles) person: Oxford Dictionary]
Question 2: I have known people who give impressive lectures; yet, they have every trait that qualifies them to be un-spiritual. Oftentimes, some of them are even bad and hypocritical. How do we reconcile their impressive knowledge with their lack of spirituality?
Answer 2: "One may deliver a lecture on Adwaita Philosophy for several hours. One may interpret a verse in hundred and one ways. One may give a discourse on one verse of the Gita for a week and yet these people may not possess an iota of devotion or practical realisation of Vedantic oneness. It is all dry intellectual exercise. Nothing more than that." (pg. 240, Sadhana by Swami Sivananda)
Answer 2: Swami Sivananda: "It is practice that counts. You know the Gita by heart. But are you living in the spirit of the Gita---that is what matters." (Swamiji's speech on 25.9.1950: pg. 150, Sivananda's Lectures: All-India and Ceylon Tour).
Answer 2: Mata Amritanandamayi: "Memorising something is NOT that difficult; putting what YOU have LEARNT into practice IS difficult." (pg. 43, Lead Us to the Light)
Question 3: How is it that their knowledge of the scriptures does not help to eradicate their bad and evil tendencies?
Answer 3: "It is easy to become a lecturer on Vedanta. If you sit in a library for some years and enrich your vocabulary and phraseology and commit to memory some passages, you can deliver good lectures, in two or three years, but it is not so easy to eradicate an evil quality. Only a real aspirant who is doing Sadhana will realise his difficulty." (pg. 240, Sadhana by Swami Sivananda)
Question 4: Some of these people who are so-called well-versed in the scriptures often say that there should be a balance between pleasure of living in this world, enjoying the sense satisfaction and leading a spiritual life. Can one make substantial progress in attaining God-Realisation in this way?
Answer 4: "Spiritual life starts with your recognition that as long as you keep going headlong in the pursuit of sense satisfaction and pleasure, you are NOT going to move one step. So all will be academic and theoretical. Our aspiration, our wanting spiritual life will only be in theory---a fancy and a feeling. You have not started. So, the beginning stage itself of the spiritual life is a turning away from sense experience and sense indulgence and starting to move in the opposite direction," (pg. 19, The Role Celibacy in Spiritual Life by Swami Chidananda)
Question 5: So, what are the uses of spiritual or scriptural knowledge?
Answer 5: "It is not enough...merely to read the scriptures. We must hold their teachings up to the watchful presence within us...," (pg. 203, The Promise of Immortality by Swami Kriyananda) [Swami Kriyananda is a direct disciple of Paramahansa Yogananda, the author of "Autobiography of a Yogi"].
Answer 5: "Even if we memorise the most complicated... texts, without an innocent love for God, it will be difficult to make any real spiritual progress," Swami Ramakrishnananda (pg. 246, The Blessed Life)
Answer 5: Mata Amritanandamayi: "Knowledge is good, but ONLY when expressed in life is its benefit experienced both by ourselves and by society....(Scriptural study) must be practised in DAILY life... ONLY when we live BY its principles can we progress without flagging, no matter what the circumstance." (pgs. 4-5, Matruvani, March 2013, Vol.24, No.7)
Answer 5: "All too often the intellect becomes satisfied with just theory about God. Great and glorious is the story of God's presence, but greater and more glorious is the actual perception of the Infinite....If you practice one millionth of the things that I tell you...you will reach God. Success doesn't lie in listening to my sermons, but in practising what I have told you." (pg. 94, The Divine Romance by Paramahansa Yogananda)
Answer 5: "It is true that our ancient teachers were great, their wisdom was profound, their morals were high, and their spiritual insight transcended the limitations of time and place. HOWEVER, we have NOT been able to take advantage of the great treasure that could have made life better and brighter." (pg. 51, Spirituality by Swami Rama)
Answer 5: "It is not enough to read the scriptures as a form of duty. One should think deeply about the meaning they contain and try to get a firm conviction about the possibility of realising the Truth." (pg. 514, Meditation and Spiritual Life by Swami Yatiswarananda)
["Scoundrel" refers to a dishonest or unscrupulous (=having or showing NO moral principles) person: Oxford Dictionary]
Question 2: I have known people who give impressive lectures; yet, they have every trait that qualifies them to be un-spiritual. Oftentimes, some of them are even bad and hypocritical. How do we reconcile their impressive knowledge with their lack of spirituality?
Answer 2: Swami Sivananda: "It is practice that counts. You know the Gita by heart. But are you living in the spirit of the Gita---that is what matters." (Swamiji's speech on 25.9.1950: pg. 150, Sivananda's Lectures: All-India and Ceylon Tour).
Answer 3: "It is easy to become a lecturer on Vedanta. If you sit in a library for some years and enrich your vocabulary and phraseology and commit to memory some passages, you can deliver good lectures, in two or three years, but it is not so easy to eradicate an evil quality. Only a real aspirant who is doing Sadhana will realise his difficulty." (pg. 240, Sadhana by Swami Sivananda)
Question 4: Some of these people who are so-called well-versed in the scriptures often say that there should be a balance between pleasure of living in this world, enjoying the sense satisfaction and leading a spiritual life. Can one make substantial progress in attaining God-Realisation in this way?
Question 5: So, what are the uses of spiritual or scriptural knowledge?
Answer 5: "It is not enough...merely to read the scriptures. We must hold their teachings up to the watchful presence within us...," (pg. 203, The Promise of Immortality by Swami Kriyananda) [Swami Kriyananda is a direct disciple of Paramahansa Yogananda, the author of "Autobiography of a Yogi"].
Answer 5: "Even if we memorise the most complicated... texts, without an innocent love for God, it will be difficult to make any real spiritual progress," Swami Ramakrishnananda (pg. 246, The Blessed Life)
Answer 5: "All too often the intellect becomes satisfied with just theory about God. Great and glorious is the story of God's presence, but greater and more glorious is the actual perception of the Infinite....If you practice one millionth of the things that I tell you...you will reach God. Success doesn't lie in listening to my sermons, but in practising what I have told you." (pg. 94, The Divine Romance by Paramahansa Yogananda)
Answer 5: "It is true that our ancient teachers were great, their wisdom was profound, their morals were high, and their spiritual insight transcended the limitations of time and place. HOWEVER, we have NOT been able to take advantage of the great treasure that could have made life better and brighter." (pg. 51, Spirituality by Swami Rama)
Answer 5: "It is not enough to read the scriptures as a form of duty. One should think deeply about the meaning they contain and try to get a firm conviction about the possibility of realising the Truth." (pg. 514, Meditation and Spiritual Life by Swami Yatiswarananda)
Comments
Post a Comment