On God and Spiritual Practice
Divine Life
Society Publication: Some Guidelines for
Practice by Swami Krishnananda
Though God has no shape and no
form, the human mind conceives of God only in some shape and form. The efficacy
of meditation does not depend upon the question of form or formlessness of God,
but on the manner of the inward visualisation of the Presence of God. The
specific characteristic of God is Totality, Inclusiveness, and Non-externality.
There can be nothing outside God, inasmuch as God is Infinite. Now, the concept
of God in the process of meditation should be so framed that the visualisation
includes every conceivable thing in the world, inasmuch as nothing outside God
should be posited to exist. The distractions of the mind are caused, not by the
visualisation of the form so much, as the feeling that something external or
outside the visualised idea exists. In fact, for all practical purposes,
formlessness should be understood to mean non-exclusiveness and absence of a
second to the object of meditation, because there cannot be a concept of form
unless there is something to distinguish it from another form. The point is
that God has nothing outside Him to be so distinguished.
The process of ‘gathering
oneself together’ means the bringing about of a total alignment of the inner
layers of one's personality – understanding, willing and feeling blended into
an integration of being. In the state of self-control or bringing oneself
together to a central focus of attention, one feels as one understands, and
wills as one feels, so that these three psychological operations do not stand
separated from one another, but act singly as a central operation of the whole
of one's being. Or, to put it in more plain language, one maintains a harmony
in thought, speech and action, without a dichotomy between one's inner being
and outer behaviour. As a matter of fact, a feeling of oneself as present
before the All-seeing Infinite, or seated in the presence of the Almighty,
would spontaneously put a stop to all sensory or empiric activity, and bring
about this togetherness of oneself at a single stroke.
To foster a continuous
awareness of the Presence of God, it would be necessary for one to accept that
God is the Ultimate Reality, and is the only Reality. If this is accepted and
driven into one's conviction, there should be no difficulty in maintaining this
consciousness. The difficulty with most people is a lack of faith in the sole
existence of God, and a subtle feeling that something also is there outside
God, such as the world of activity, of human relations, and the like. Study of
elevating passages from the Scripture, regularly, everyday, would also assist
in the maintenance of this consciousness. But, above all, the best way is to be
in the company of great souls, with which blessing nothing can be compared.
Whatever has been stated above
would also throw some light on the meaning of ‘God-realisation’. It is the
union of the soul of the individual with the Universal Soul, which is what one
means by God or the Supreme Being. These are the final secrets which one
receives from a Master, after effecting in oneself adequate purification of
mind, both ethically and intellectually. God-realisation is attainment of
Universal Perfection. It is to remain as Infinity and Eternity blended into One
Being.
Different religions are like
different medicines for different diseases of people. Every religion has some
point of Truth in it. But there cannot be a universally prescribed religious
attitude for the whole of mankind, indiscriminately, in the same way as a
common medicine cannot be prescribed for every kind of illness of everyone. The
variety in the prescription of medicines does not mean that the medical science
itself is diverse in its inner constituents. The science of medicine is an
indivisible, single system of treatment of human nature, though it manifests
itself as a variety of medical prescriptions, due to the difference in the
kinds of illness of people. As the science is one and the medicines can be
many, the background of religion is single, and in this sense we may say that
there is only one religion, the religion of man in respect of the One God. Yet,
we may say that there are many religions, as there are many medical
prescriptions, all equally necessary and true in their own way, notwithstanding
their internal difference.
Continue to read:
On God and
Spiritual Practice by Swami Krishnananda
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