By Swami Chidananda
Many people say all these – philosophy, scriptures and metaphysics – are not necessary in life. “Be good and do good; that is enough,” they assert.
We respond by saying, “All this is necessary in order to be good and to do good!”
Many years ago, Pujya Swāmi Chinmayānandaji was in the USA and, with a couple of friends (devotees, students), he was crossing a road in the foreign country, without realizing that they had to do it at a proper, different place. A policeman confronted them after they reached the other side and fined them (gave them a ‘ticket’ as they say there). After that, the cop said, “Have a good day!” Swamiji, known for his wit and tremendous presence of mind, retorted, “How?”
“How will I have a good day now, after being fined by you? It is nice of you to wish us a good day but we have just now been fined!”
Likewise, it is nice to say, “Be good and do good,” but “how?” For most people, if not for all, guidance from scriptures and from knowledgeable people is necessary. That is where religions come into the picture. Despite the exploitation and misuse that do take place under the umbrella of religions, we must admit that they have been the custodian of a lot of moral education over the centuries. A large number of saints had their early lessons in the precincts of temples, churches, mosques and gurudwāras. They might have later moved to solitude or to other environments but their initial training was at the facilities provided by formal, organized religion.
“Among thousands of people, a rare one strives to know me,” says1 Lord Krishna in the Geetā. He hastens to add, “And among thousands of those who strive, a rare one again truly knows me.” Here, to know God and to discover human excellence need to be taken as synonymous. Most people imagine that food, clothes and shelter are the ‘be-all and end-all’ of our existence. To think so is a big error. The real challenges of human life begin when we have adequate food, clothes and shelter. Everyone of us, in our heart of hearts, seeks ‘human excellence’. “To love and to be loved,” to quote Chinmaya again, “is the greatest privilege of human life.” To express all-encompassing love and to experience love coming towards us from all directions is indeed the high point in ‘human excellence’ that covers many more values.
Shri Krishna also says2, “Everybody cannot know me for they are covered by the veiling of māyā.” Reflection on philosophical works can awaken in us true appreciation of the need for rising to higher levels of consciousness. Though God is at the same distance from all of us, very few can behold him! The situation is similar to a hundred people standing in a circle and God being in the centre of the circle. Imagine just one or two among the hundred are facing the centre and the rest have their backs to the centre!
Absence of selfishness and erasure of all narrowmindedness are the marks of human excellence, where the obsession with ‘I, me and my’ ends. Professional excellence may bring to us many rewards, trophies or awards. Human excellence alone can bring to us profound peace, and that alone blesses the society also in the truer sense of the term.
Towards achieving human excellence, spirituality that involves some philosophy, a few scriptures and a little metaphysics becomes necessary.
Notes:
1 manushāynām sahasreshu… Geet ā 7.3
2 nāham prakāshah sarvasya… Geetā 7.25