Spiritual Vision of Life
Divine Life
Society Publication: Chapter 5-Vedic
Vision – The Vision of Life by Swami Krishnananda
The life that is
spiritual—spiritual life, as we call it, is the highest achievement that we can
expect in this birth. It is the highest point that can be reached in the
evolution of the human species, beyond which there can be nothing, because the
concept that is spiritual is basically non-temporal. The soul in us is not a
temporal unit; it is not something that is moving in time. We ourselves, in our
roots, are not temporal motions or the flux of creation. Our aspiration for
eternity and an unending life is the argument of something within our own
selves that is unending in itself.
God speaks to us through the
voice of our own spiritual aspirations. Our conscience is the voice of God.
Thus these approaches, these proclamations, these revelations made available to
us through the Vedas, the Upanishads and the Bhagavadgita are the touchstones
of Reality, the treasures of mankind. They are not merely books—they are the
visible God Himself. That is why that we feel such a holy and exalted mood in
the presence of the visible form of this knowledge as the Veda, or the
Upanishads, or the Bhagavadgita. They are verbally embodied forms of the
highest revelations of Vedic sages, the masters of the Upanishads, and in the
case of the Bhagavadgita, the great vision of Bhagavan Sri Krishna himself.
Even a study of the Veda
mantras, even a mere recitation of them, is supposed to be capable of purifying
us. A mantra is that which protects, supports and gives security to anyone who
even thinks of it and recites it. By a contemplation of it, it is protecting us
every moment. The Veda mantras are a talisman that we are carrying with us
always, particularly the Gayatri, which is considered as the essence of Vedic
teaching.
The spiritual vision of life,
therefore, is the highest vision of life, not merely in the sense that we
ascend from the lower to the higher—it is a comprehensive outlook from all
angles of vision possible. It is all content, all substance, all soul, all
fulfillment; this is why we call it the very soul of all things. To be
spiritual is not to be in a state of occupation. It is not just to appear in a
religions manner, it is not a mood which is other-worldly, but it is a
purification of the personality in such a way that it becomes a friend, philosopher
and guide—that which is one with all things in the deepest spirit.
A spiritual seeker is no more
an ordinary human being. If the seeking is truly spiritual and it is an
emanation from the soul, it at once transforms the human into that which is
superhuman. Great glory is spiritual seeking. Great achievement is spiritual
seeking. Great possession is spiritual seeking, and nothing can be greater than
this achievement. Health and wealth follow from a truly spiritual vision of
life. Every kind of protection from all corners of the earth follows, says the
Upanishad.
The great soul, who is tuned
up to the soul of cosmos in a spiritual vision of things, receives tribute, as
it were, from every quarter of the world. As everyone wishes protection to
one’s own self, everyone will wish protection to us. All creation will wish our
welfare, because in our spiritual aspirations, we have ceased to be ourself—we
have become everyone. Because in our spiritual aspirations we are no more
ourself but we are all people, everyone wishes our welfare. We are not merely
the friend of all—everyone also is our friend. Just as children cry for food,
seated around their mother, so do all living beings cry, as it were, seated
around this great personality who is the highest spiritual potential possible,
and they wish their welfare.
The vishva who is the
individual becomes the Vaishvanara who is the cosmic through the gradations of
ascents—vishva, taijasa, prajna and the Atman or turiya
individually, and cosmically through Virat, Hiranyagarbha and Ishvara. This
great spiritual vision gets materialized in direct experience. Thus the
spiritual vision of life is also the modus operandi of our daily activity in
life. The spiritual vision is the actual constitution of the cosmos, and the
administration of the universe is conducted from the point of view of this
great vision, which is spiritual, whose inner intention and the variety of
approach is available to us in these great texts mentioned—the Vedas, the
Upanishads and the Bhagavadgita.
Excerpts from:
Spiritual Vision of Life - Chapter 5-Vedic
Vision – The Vision of Life by Swami Krishnananda
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