The idea of Advaita(non-duality) is a powerful concept. In this concept, the veil between the worshipper and the worshipped is eliminated. The devotee ceases to identify himself/herself/themselves as a separate identity and sees their being as well as the beings around them as being part of the universe and the God.
Easy, right? Umm…no.
Maya or the Ego is a powerful veil thats hard to destroy. Its the reason for why we exist or rather how we see ourselves in this world. When does this seed of “I” originate? Its probably there when the baby is born. It’s said that the baby when it's in the mother’s womb realizes that it has yet again chosen to a human life and to be enslaved into the chains of bondage and repents its actions. It meditates on the God thinking about how this time it will be different and how in this life, the baby would do things differently. But, the moment the baby is pushed off the mother’s womb and into the world, the maya ensnares it and creates the veil of ignorance. Which is why perhaps babies cry when they are born. Suddenly, the enlightened being identifies itself as a helpless baby who has to rely on others for its basic necessities. It no longer care about the Lord or the unification with God and instead focusses on survival needs, like any other animal or being on this planet. Gone are the glorious thoughts of meditation and submergence with God. Instead, the thoughts are focussed on milk and naps.
Are we any better than that day old baby? As we grow up, we think of lofty ideals and visionary thoughts. I would change the world, I would fight for the poor and I would fight for climate change. Such lofty goals and ideals we dream of. Some of us think of becoming activists and some others think of becoming soldiers and a few want to be fireman. None think of becoming the corporate fatcats sitting in their air conditioned rooms and sipping lattes from their custom made coffee machines while lamenting on the P/L statements and figuring out on whom to squeeze out and whom to cut out to make a difference in share price and filling the coffers.
I will leave these when I’ve a million dollar savings, the mind says. I will go to Himalaya’s as soon as my bank balance crosses a million. Who needs more than million dollars, mind would argue. But, a few years down the road, the mind says, million may barely cut it. Let us rather focus on goals around titles and age. That wouldn’t change, would it? As soon as I turn forty, life would be different, it would promise. You would go back to academics and work for social upliftment. Enough of this chasing, it would goad you. Alas, forty comes and goes and you realize that you are a “family” man. Let the kids get through college and settle on their feet. Then, what necessity is there of my hanging around. The cycle continues until the day you are on the death bed and even then your thoughts would be swirling around whether you setup the custodial accounts correctly and whether you wrote your trust correctly. Goddamit man! You are on the death bed, stop this useless chatter. For money’s sake, they will figure it out. Now, go die at least peacefully!
Religion is supposed to be the cure to escape these. To simply think that I’m God is not easy. It could be delusional and there are enough cults and religions here that prove the point. To be God, it’s not easy. Because once you realize you are God, you are no longer defined by the body. You are the Universe. You feel pain for everyone and you feel joy with everyone. You identify yourself as so big that there is nothing else left. Not even the black holes, for they too are the creation of God. Imagine the plight of Jesus: He didn’t proclaim himself to be God and yet, he was smiling and forgiving those who were crucifying him. For those who want to test this out, let someone prick you with a needle and see how you react. Would you be forgiving or would you cuss them out?
Religion cannot let you identify yourself as God. But religion provides a step, a landing step towards the realization. It makes you love someone or some entity else other than yourself and helps you acknowlege their supremacy. In doing so, we look upto them and we lift ourselves beyond our animal instincts. You look at Jesus and you get inspired to forgive your annoying neighbor. You look at Rama and you get inspired to live a life with Justice and Rule even when the going gets tough. You look at Sai and you develop patience to withstand troubles and tribulations and chant the divine name at all times. Such upliftment doesn’t come easy and requires you to put your ego down. Even then ego would sprout making you think yourself as superior amongst others and only when the Guru or teacher comes into your life, can you destroy these.
Worshipping God should lead us to a Guru or Teacher who comes when the timing is right and helps you advance along. A Guru is a must to self realization for how else can the veil be removed? The veil has been tightly woven around your eyes and while religion and devotion can help you see through the veil at times, the veil is still present. The veil is still holding to you as tightly as it was. Only a Guru can come and remove the veil. Only someone who can see the light can take the veil away and make you see the light. Religions have all said the same thing. Christians have looked towards Jesus as their Teacher. Without him, no matter how devotional they could be, they wouldn’t still realize the truth. Hindus have for ages looked towards Gurus and Yogi’s to fill that role. Even God himself had incarnated in the form of Krishna to teach Arjun about the ultimate truth in the form of Gita. And so did every religion embrace the concept of a Guru to tell you this truth. And the truth is simple and plain: Love everyone and Hurt none.
Universal love is the only way to destroy the veil and to realize that we are already the Lord and the God.
