Spiritual Progress

[Jaldhar H. Vyas]

On Tue, 30 Dec 1997, Chandran, Nanda (NBC) wrote:

> This article appeared in The Hindu today :
>
> Spiritual progress
>
> PATHWAY TO GOD IN THE VEDAS: K. D. Sangoram; Copies available with B. R.
> Kulkarni, A-4-2, Postal Colony, Hotgi Road, Solapur, 413003, Maharashtra.
> Rs. 80.
>
> The Vedas which are God's revelations have given to posterity the concepts
> of one God, one world and one humanity.

This is open to debate.

>  The Rishis who took to propagate
> them by transmission through direct teaching were eager to share their
> profound thoughts with fellow human beings.
>

With their fellow Brahmans.  This is something that makes a lot of people
uncomfortable but nevertheless it is true.

> Their wisdom forms the foundation of Hindu religion, the Rig Veda is full of
> verses, the Yajur, of formulas, the Sama Veda of Riks in metrical forms. The
> Atharva Veda contains chants and incantations.
>
> The sages were aware of the process of re-channelising mind's energy. They
> had understood that the assistance of the mind is needed in all that one has
> to do. They wanted to redirect its powers, Godward.
>

Mantras have a spiritual effect.  It's best to leave it at that.  A lot of
this mind-energy channeling talk is just pseudoscience.

> The Vedic selections in this volume depict the stages in the progress of a
> pilgrim towards the altar of Divinity. The Vedas explain why man turns to
> God and why, in doing so, he has to imbibe certain virtues which are
> essential to tread the pathway to God.
>
> The author has referred to the incentives to spiritual life as found in the
> Vedas under three heads - intellectual, moral and eudaemonistic. Quoting
> mantras, he says that God is hidden in the hearts of men who have to
> approach Him by all possible means.
>
> Though the Vedic prayers also seek material wealth, men's eyes should be
> turned to the light from above. The ideal set by the Rishis through their
> interpretation of the Vedas was a judicious blend of worldly happiness and
> spiritual bliss on the journey towards God, moral preparation has to be done
> and one chapter is devoted to this need, which includes control of the mind,
> avoidance of vices and cultivation of virtues.
>
> The arguments to prove God's existence, the nature of Reality, the
> relationship between God and a devotee, how God removes an aspirant's
> problems, the role and necessity of a spiritual teacher, the Divine Name as
> the bond between God and man, methods of meditation, the varieties of
> spiritual experience and God- realisation have all been dealt with in this
> elaborate study of the Vedic mantras, giving the exact Vedic passages from
> which they have been traced.
>

The use of the word God with all the connotations the English word carries
may obscure the fact that various Mimamsaka and Vedantic schools have a
range of opinions from completely theistic to somewhat agnostic.  For
Advaita Vedantins God exists and is to be worshipped but Moksha itself is
not something God can give.

--
Jaldhar H. Vyas <jaldhar at braincells.com>