Man is sleeping. He does not sleep only at night. And it is not night which makes him sleep. Rather, it is night because he sleeps. Similarly, he will not wake up because it is morning, but it is called morning when he wakes up. When Buddha woke up 2,500 years ago, he did not sleep thereafter. Buddha ‘the awakened’ never sleeps.
In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna says that a yogi never sleeps. What does that mean? It means that in the state of being awakened, one goes beyond the physical acts of sleeping and waking up. One is seated on the temporal seat of their being, where they are totally awake and relaxed.
Man is not an island. Man is an ocean. The earth, the universe, the ocean and you are all one. In this oneness, there is existence. Man co-exists in this oneness of being. But his mind breeds his ego which makes him think he is distinct and makes him want to be more distinguished.
You are the synthesis of the body and the consciousness which is the most distinguished occurrence on earth. The earth and the entire existence want to nurture you to make you realize who you are, awaken you. It is said that when Buddha was awakened, trees bore unseasonal flowers. The whole existence welcomed Buddha on attaining Buddhahood.
When a flower opens itself to the light, it comes into its ‘flower-ness’. It declares its flowering. The flowering of Buddha was the ultimate flowering that the earth dreamt of. It is what endowed man with human consciousness. Man also has immense potential of flowering.
Krishna, Mahavira, Buddha, Christ, Mohammad, Nanak, Kabir and others achieved godhood when they flowered. Mankind made religions out of them then. Today all our holy books are our religions. Even though we are Hindus or Muslims, we are born into a family which follows a holy book.
But if you thought that God is dependent on your holy books, you are mistaken. You are not religious because you are following a particular holy book, but because you have understood your ignorance. That is the beginning of religion. Going to a temple or a church or a mosque does not make you religious. Everyone’s religion is a very personal affair. But when you understand your ignorance and suffering, it leads you to begin the real quest for Godhood. Buddha said that there is suffering and there is a way out of it. Although all types of holy books and scriptures were available then, Buddha did not keep on performing customs to be religious. Buddha said that there was no God. He said that there is no soul. But he attained Godhood. We don’t have to cling to the words written in scriptures and holy books. They are words by those who are enlightened and are indications which inspire us to attain our light.
But instead of flowering and awakening, man has followed a shortcut to God. Man seems to have outsourced the tasks to organised religion. Man has buried God in the graveyard of holy books and scriptures. Organised religion keeps on hampering character development, cultivating us to be God-fearing and to follow one particular set of rituals, customs, procedures and traditions. And to be an ardent follower of one type of rituals or scriptures makes you religious for one group and an infidel in the eyes of others.
In fact, an atheist has more potential because he challenges the customs set by priests. Buddha, Nanak and Jesus challenged them too. The one who doubts what is being taught by priests as the truth is the one who wants to know the truth by understanding it. It is a scientific approach. Thus, it is better to be an atheist who doubts God than to be a pseudo-theist who follows rituals all his life and never flowers. He who is afraid of doubting will never be able to get close to God.
The priest who knows about God through scriptures knows about your weaknesses and insecurities too. He knows that your weaknesses are fear, death and greed. So, he tells you that the soul is immortal and you get a slogan to hide your fears behind. Being an ‘agent of God’, he knows that if you believe in the immortality of the soul, you will repose your faith in the continuation of your hopes in the kingdom of God or heaven once they end here when you die. Aren’t there stories of the kalpavriksha or the tree of heaven which fulfils desires instantly? Therefore, going to temples, chanting mantras or making donations to reserve a place for yourself in heaven have nothing to do with God. They only make the priest thrive.
Man knows nothing. All knowledgeable ones know nothing. Ask them if they know why they breathe. Do they know how they are born and why their breath is going on and why they are going to die? We gain much of our knowledge through our comprehension of the world, but the knowledge that we collect through scriptures and holy books is more for adding to religious entertainment than for freedom from bondage.
Your self-knowledge will flower in you when your whole being thirsts to know about ‘That Which Is’, even at the cost of your life or being. Going to temples every day and performing formal customs may make you be perceived as a religious person, but you will in fact remain pseudo-religious.
Ponder over your ignorance. You may not know that it is the beginning of a journey towards God. Don’t accept knowledge which comes from outside, even if it is from holy books. Believing in them will end your flowering. Accept and know only that which emerges out of your own consciousness. It is the scripture that is born out of you. You will be surprised to see then how your understanding of all holy books and scriptures is deepened.
The author is a spiritual teacher and advisor for policy, governance and leadership. He can be contacted at arunavlokitta@gmail.com