In the East, we are often greeted with folded hands with a humble ‘Namaste’ or ‘Namaskar’. What does it mean? It means that the divinity – the spark of life animating all existence – within I, myself, recognizes and honours the divinity within you, yourself. In so acknowledging, recognising and honouring each other, we automatically and spontaneously align ourselves with God.
Such a process, on a subtle level, amounts to passing on a benediction – “God bless you”. We can see this in the simple act of sneezing. It is said according to ancient beliefs that sneezing temporarily results in the loss of consciousness. This makes the individual vulnerable and as superstition would have it, open to evil thoughts for a brief span of time. The greeting or the invocation not only dispels evil, but also helps to return the individual to self-control.
When we are thirsty, what we really need to quench our thirst, is water. Other drinks, though made from water, do not fully quench our thirst because they are not 100% water. Likewise, although material assets – be they a new car, a bigger house, or a new phone – can grant us temporary joy, they cannot provide lasting, true happiness. Indeed, for true happiness, we have to connect to the everlasting source of love and abundant joy – i.e. the divine light – from which everything originates and into which everything merges.
With the said divine light we are able to see clearly. For example, when a stick in a glass of water appears to be bent, an ignorant person would declare it to be crooked, or blame it on poor eye sight. But if you ask a student of science, he will tell you that the stick is neither bent nor is the sight defective. It is simply a product of refraction. This knowledge of science makes the understanding complete.
Similarly, Satguru (the spiritual mentor) does exactly this. He removes the veil of ignorance from our eyes and shows us the Truth in all its glory. In seeing with new eyes, we are able to observe and realise as to what is real and permanent, and what is false and impermanent. We focus our attention on that which is everlasting, all-powerful and eternal, and we divert our attention from things and possessions that are here today and gone tomorrow.
The spiritual mentor, through the sharing of divine light, shows us that this very body, which we think we own, is not really ours. Science confirms that our body renews itself every day by shedding old cells and creating new ones. So much so, that an average person totally replaces his old cells for new ones, every seven years. This means that a fifty-year old man will have undergone a complete body change seven times over. The body he was born with is no longer there. What is, therefore, seemingly real and eternally real, are two different things.
The divine light helps us in this regard, allowing us to become fully aware. For being aware at any given moment, is to be fully present and conscious of what is real. That is why the play on words is sometimes used – realise, through real eyes! What is real is only understood and realisable in a human form. All our Holy Scriptures testify and emphasise the importance of human birth for attaining redemption. However, the human form, according to saints and seers, is not enough. We need to be not just embodied as human, but live as complete human beings. This is only possible by imbibing and manifesting human virtues, which make us humane.
Our sacred texts exhort that spirituality dawns in life only after direct communion with the spiritual self – your true self, soul, or pure consciousness. This, however, is only facilitated by the grace of a bonafide Guru, who bestows the brahm gyan on the seeker. This brahm gyan is divine light, giving rise at once to both humane and divine qualities which accompany the individual both here, in this life, and hereafter, in the afterlife.
So when the seeker is spiritually thirsty, the mentor does not beat around the bush. He does not talk about the properties of water or where and when it is available. He hands over the glass of water and the thirst is instantly quenched.
Therefore, until awareness or divine light dawns, one lives in ignorance. Contrary to popular belief, ignorance is not bliss. Rather we suffer a very confusing and unfulfilled life experience, struggling to find meaning, purpose or direction. If we did this on any other journey, we would have wasted precious moments to really enjoy our time. Why is it any different in the journey of human life?
The first step towards living in light (or enlightenment, as it is commonly described) is to let go of all that is known. Prior to enlightenment, we have not differentiated the real from the unreal, so all the understanding we have accumulated is based on false pretenses. Letting go of what we think we know, makes us open to listening and reflecting on that which is real. This reality is divinity, the source of eternal wisdom.
Divine light is our divine right – may we all be blessed by it.
-Shiva Rane, Glasgow, Scotland
I
