(this is inspired from a discourse by Sri Bannanje Govindacharya on Bhagwadgeeta)
According to our scriptures there are different stages of thinking that a human must attain in his lifetime to reach the abode of god. I wont start to explain why it is important to reach the abode of god as it deserves a separate post.
The first knowledge that we need to acquire is called "Adhibhoutika" or Material Science. This is what most of us do throughout our lives. Trying to understand the physical world. We get Phds for this and think that we have accomplished a unique feat but according to our scriptpures this is the "kindergarden" of spirituality.
So, why is it important to understand the world? Well, once we start observing the physical world we realize that everything is so finely knit. There is so much randomness and yet everything is ordered. Everything is simple and yet complex. For eg. Something as trivial as a stone is composed of infinite atoms. Each atom is again a complex bunch of many subatomic particles and the list foes on. There is so much beauty around us and yet each is different from the others. Once we learn to observe all this, we realize that there has to be a creator for all this. Because it is impossible for a non-living thing to simply start doing work on its own. In our process of observing we also learn that our eyes "dont" see and our ears "dont" hear. Because we can see lots of things even with our eyes shut(dreams). we can hear even when there is no sound from outside. So there is something else which sees and hears and uses all the senses to do things.
With all these understanding our quest goes inward(in our body). We reach the mind. The mind "sees' through the eyes etc. But again the mind is not a "living" entity to do some work. So there has to be a some power(living) to control the mind, the senses and everything else. This is the second stage of understanding called "Adhidaiva". Here we realize that everything has gods to control different functions. But the quest does not stop here. If gods were the only controlling power we would not be able to close our eyes when we wanted right? So inside the body there is a living entity(jeeva) or aatma which experiences everything and has some control over all the senses. this is the "Adhyatma". Reaching this stage(though tough) is reasonably easy. But realizing that there is the last being, the supreme power, Sri Narayana, as the actual aatma is the toughest part.
Obviously this is just a brief intro. Hope you people enjoy it!
According to our scriptures there are different stages of thinking that a human must attain in his lifetime to reach the abode of god. I wont start to explain why it is important to reach the abode of god as it deserves a separate post.
The first knowledge that we need to acquire is called "Adhibhoutika" or Material Science. This is what most of us do throughout our lives. Trying to understand the physical world. We get Phds for this and think that we have accomplished a unique feat but according to our scriptpures this is the "kindergarden" of spirituality.
So, why is it important to understand the world? Well, once we start observing the physical world we realize that everything is so finely knit. There is so much randomness and yet everything is ordered. Everything is simple and yet complex. For eg. Something as trivial as a stone is composed of infinite atoms. Each atom is again a complex bunch of many subatomic particles and the list foes on. There is so much beauty around us and yet each is different from the others. Once we learn to observe all this, we realize that there has to be a creator for all this. Because it is impossible for a non-living thing to simply start doing work on its own. In our process of observing we also learn that our eyes "dont" see and our ears "dont" hear. Because we can see lots of things even with our eyes shut(dreams). we can hear even when there is no sound from outside. So there is something else which sees and hears and uses all the senses to do things.
With all these understanding our quest goes inward(in our body). We reach the mind. The mind "sees' through the eyes etc. But again the mind is not a "living" entity to do some work. So there has to be a some power(living) to control the mind, the senses and everything else. This is the second stage of understanding called "Adhidaiva". Here we realize that everything has gods to control different functions. But the quest does not stop here. If gods were the only controlling power we would not be able to close our eyes when we wanted right? So inside the body there is a living entity(jeeva) or aatma which experiences everything and has some control over all the senses. this is the "Adhyatma". Reaching this stage(though tough) is reasonably easy. But realizing that there is the last being, the supreme power, Sri Narayana, as the actual aatma is the toughest part.
Obviously this is just a brief intro. Hope you people enjoy it!
