Liberation

The spiritual path has often been at the receiving end of a lot of criticism from the world at large. Many feel that spiritualists propagate an idyllic lifestyle that is meant to drive people away from their sense of responsibility and belonging. There are many who completely misconstrue the true motive behind spirituality. To put it simply, I would say that the true motive of spirituality is liberation. But what does liberation mean? From what would we be liberated? Are we prisoners? Why would we want to be liberated?

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To find the answers to the aforementioned questions, a seeker needs to first dispassionately self-introspect. A seeker needs to go deep into meditation and question the motive behind each and every action of his. Upon doing so, and upon observing the lives of those around him, he would realize that all human lives indeed follow a similar pattern. The childhood is marked with playful ignorance; the youth with wasteful arrogance; the thirties are marked with worldly exuberance and the forties with dull indolence. Through the years, man follows the same graph of life. He keeps on doing the same things through countless incarnations. He keeps on succumbing to the same weakness through many lifetimes.

All in all what does it result in; nothing? What does the human being accomplish through this entire exercise of pointless indulgence? He accomplishes nothing. All his achievements are momentary and flitting in their very nature. His desires induce him to act and his unrequited actions bring forth with them even more desire. This ultimately results in an endless cycle of unrequited yearning on part of the human being. That same yearning indeed represents the human existence. Why would you not yearn for liberation from such a redundant and recursive way of life? Why would you not yearn for salvation?

To elucidate on what liberation truly is, I would say that it is a process that completely uplifts the spirit from the unimaginative human existence. It breaks the link that our spirit bears with our impulses and our instincts. In a way it completely annuls all the ties that bind us to our human existence. Liberation in the end achieves great things. A liberated individual is not affected by the idiosyncrasies that accompany each phase of life. A liberated individual does not follow the same graph that millions around the world do. He is born with a purpose and a greater motive than mere humans; and within himself he has the strength and the courage to successfully expedite his goals; his ambitions which are ultimately targeted towards the greater good of mankind.

Liberation in itself is a torturous process indeed. Imagine the vibrant and pulsating human existence that you have loved through countless incarnations. You love your impulses and you love your instincts. You love your weaknesses more than anything; for in a way, your weaknesses make your life worth living. However these weaknesses are the ones that bind us to the human existence; that in the end make us human. The process of liberation severs all these ties. It completely negates the instinct with the human being; and that in itself is an extremely painful process. It in only when we are free from that physical instinct that we realize how great a change it brings into our lives.

Such is liberation. Yearning for it only takes us closer to achieving it. However, to liberate oneself completely from the rot of this wretched world takes great devotion, courage and determination. That, we can only hope to gain through the grace of the Master.

Peace be with you,
Amen.

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Chapter 7: “Action and Reaction”

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Our life is often comprised of endless streaks of action and reaction. Incidentally, most of human karma takes place owing to the incessant need to give a reaction to every action that comes our way. In the seventh chapter of the Satsang series, Rutugandha recounts the day, when the master spoke of this destructive karmic cycle. Shree Milindji Moghe also elucidates on the ways in which we can get out of this incessant streak of action and reaction.

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