Navigating The Nuances Of Sanatana Dharma
Kishore Asthana
Imagine a globe. At the North Pole is a magic gateway, leading to the Self. To reach this is the objective of all sincere travellers on the Path. But, the travellers are at different places on the globe, some even at the South Pole; the paths are confusing and full of pitfalls and most travellers are a gullible lot, willing to believe everything they are told. Though well-tried maps are available, most lack the wisdom to understand these.
To make matters worse, there are highwaymen in disguise on the path who want to profit from exploiting the ‘need’ of these travellers. Most travellers don’t know what they seek – they just have an idea of a fabled land of bliss, which, if they could only reach, would remove all their earthly worries.
Keep that magic gateway in the North Pole in mind. Imagine a circle around it, somewhat like our Arctic Circle. Let’s call this the magic circle. The few travellers here are so near the gateway that it just pulls them in. Those outside this circle, but within sight of it have almost arrived and can sense the Force. At this level, all scriptural arguments and religious theory give way to personal experience and the question of gods and rituals – even sin – fades away.
Next, we come to another larger circle at a distance from the Magic Circle, in, say, the position of the Tropic of Cancer. At this place we start losing sight of the magic circle. The first set of deities, are placed at this second circle. These are our primary deityimages, each with a symbolic meaning, and are placed there to indicate the existence of the magic gateway to those who are not able to feel it more directly. They are like road signs. Many sacred texts are at this level, containing maps leading to the magic gateway.
As we keep moving further away from the magic circle, we come across more and more ritualistic worship till, at levels below the equator, there are so many practices, so diverse, that it is difficult to divine what they symbolize or where they are guiding us. Popular religion is at this level, with its folk tales, gods and goddesses, rituals and myriad superstitions. Here, instead of proceeding towards where these images point, people start going round and round the road signs themselves. We can expect to find the vast majority of followers here. The demarcation between these levels is not a sharp one. Each tends to fade out into the next.
Dharmic spiritual texts, the maps of the quest, are also distributed all over the spiritual globe. Generally, the entire text is not at any one level. For example, while most parts of the Upanishads are at the upper-most level some are also found at the middle level. Many scriptures are written in symbolic form. The knowers see through the tales and understand the underlying truth. Others just see an epic in its literal form and take it at face value. As such, the same scripture can be considered to be at different levels depending upon the perspective of the beholder.
Yes, there is much more to the Dharma than meets the eye. As we travel farther on the Path, we like to stay more in one place physically and the more we know, the less we want to speak.
DISCLAIMER
The views expressed in the Article above are Author’s personal views and kashmiribhatta.in is not in any way responsible for the opinions expressed in the above article. The article belongs to its respective owner or owners and this site does not claim any right over it. Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing."
Courtesy: The Times of India: The speaking tree: 16th Nov, 2018
Navigating The Nuances Of Sanatana Dharma
Kishore Asthana
Imagine a globe. At the North Pole is a magic gateway, leading to the Self. To reach this is the objective of all sincere travellers on the Path. But, the travellers are at different places on the globe, some even at the South Pole; the paths are confusing and full of pitfalls and most travellers are a gullible lot, willing to believe everything they are told. Though well-tried maps are available, most lack the wisdom to understand these.
To make matters worse, there are highwaymen in disguise on the path who want to profit from exploiting the ‘need’ of these travellers. Most travellers don’t know what they seek – they just have an idea of a fabled land of bliss, which, if they could only reach, would remove all their earthly worries.
Keep that magic gateway in the North Pole in mind. Imagine a circle around it, somewhat like our Arctic Circle. Let’s call this the magic circle. The few travellers here are so near the gateway that it just pulls them in. Those outside this circle, but within sight of it have almost arrived and can sense the Force. At this level, all scriptural arguments and religious theory give way to personal experience and the question of gods and rituals – even sin – fades away.
Next, we come to another larger circle at a distance from the Magic Circle, in, say, the position of the Tropic of Cancer. At this place we start losing sight of the magic circle. The first set of deities, are placed at this second circle. These are our primary deityimages, each with a symbolic meaning, and are placed there to indicate the existence of the magic gateway to those who are not able to feel it more directly. They are like road signs. Many sacred texts are at this level, containing maps leading to the magic gateway.
As we keep moving further away from the magic circle, we come across more and more ritualistic worship till, at levels below the equator, there are so many practices, so diverse, that it is difficult to divine what they symbolize or where they are guiding us. Popular religion is at this level, with its folk tales, gods and goddesses, rituals and myriad superstitions. Here, instead of proceeding towards where these images point, people start going round and round the road signs themselves. We can expect to find the vast majority of followers here. The demarcation between these levels is not a sharp one. Each tends to fade out into the next.
Dharmic spiritual texts, the maps of the quest, are also distributed all over the spiritual globe. Generally, the entire text is not at any one level. For example, while most parts of the Upanishads are at the upper-most level some are also found at the middle level. Many scriptures are written in symbolic form. The knowers see through the tales and understand the underlying truth. Others just see an epic in its literal form and take it at face value. As such, the same scripture can be considered to be at different levels depending upon the perspective of the beholder.
Yes, there is much more to the Dharma than meets the eye. As we travel farther on the Path, we like to stay more in one place physically and the more we know, the less we want to speak.
DISCLAIMER
The views expressed in the Article above are Author’s personal views and kashmiribhatta.in is not in any way responsible for the opinions expressed in the above article. The article belongs to its respective owner or owners and this site does not claim any right over it. Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing."
Courtesy: The Times of India: The speaking tree: 16th Nov, 2018