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CONNECT TO THE CORE

By: Satyendra Nath Dwivedi

“Let noble thoughts come to us from all sides.”


[Rig-Veda I-89-i]

“Om! May Brahman protect us (teacher and student) both! May Brahman nourish
us both! May we acquire energy (as a result of this study)! May we both become
illumined (by this study)! May we not envy each other! Om, Peace! Peace!
Peace!”

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The historical records of the civilization in India dates back to over four thousand
years and even then it had reached a highly developed stage. It has stood the
stress and strain of more than four or five millenniums of spiritual thought and
experience. Though people of different races and cultures have been pouring
into India from the dawn of history, Hinduism has been able to maintain its
supremacy and even the proselytizing creeds backed by political power have not
been able to coerce the large majority of Indians to their view. It is obvious that
our ancient Hindu culture possesses some vitality.

It is interesting to note that while fixed intellectual beliefs mark off one religion
from another, Hinduism sets itself no such limits. Intellect is subordinated to
intuition, dogma to experience, outer expression to inward realization.

Hinduism is not a definite dogmatic creed, but a vast, complex, but subtly unified
mass of spiritual thought and realization. Its tradition of God-ward endeavour of
the human spirit has been enlarging through the ages.

“Our ancestors were great. We must first recall that. We must learn the
elements of our being, the blood that courses in our veins; we must have
faith in the blood, and what it did in the past; and out of that faith, and
consciousness of our past greatness, we must build an India yet greater
than the what she has been.”
- Swami Vivekananda

Our most notable ancestors have been referred to with a common nomenclature
– the ‘Rishis’. The definition of ‘Rishi’ is the ‘Mantra-Drashta’ or seer of thought.

Our ancestors had an intense love of knowledge. They contemplated upon the
most subtle and abstruse laws relating to human life and the creation of the
universe. The ‘Vedas’, more so the ‘Vedanta’, embody the exalted inner spiritual
states reached by our ancient ‘Rishis’ and the truths they perceived while
remaining in those states.

The ‘Upanishads’ form the concluding portion of the Vedas, and are therefore
called the Vedanta, or the end of the Veda, a denomination which suggests that
they contain the essence of the Vedic teaching. They are the foundation on
which most of the later philosophies and religions of India rest. Another popular
name for Vedanta, common among various commentators on Upanishads, is the
‘Shrutis’.

The common aim of the ‘Shrutis’ is to bring peace and freedom to human
beings.

Vedanta is both religion as well as philosophy. As religion, it discovers the truth


of the inner world and fosters the same discovery by others; as philosophy, it
synthesizes this science of the inner world with the other sciences of the outer

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world, to present a unified vision of the total reality, and to impart to human life
and character depth of faith and vision along-with breadth of outlook and
sympathy.

The Upanishads are the only sacred books which addressed themselves
exclusively to the discovery of the essential spiritual truths and to leading man,
irrespective of caste and creed, to their realization in his own.

The Upanishads form the ancient ‘Core’ of our culture.

To the Upanishads India owes almost all the brighter sides of her life and culture.
To them she owes her impressive record of active toleration within her borders
and the uniformly peaceful and benevolent nature of her foreign relations in the
field of religion.

The philosophy and religion that India developed out of the ‘Shrutis’ bears a
significant title, ‘Sanatana Dharma’, Eternal Religion. It derives its authority from
its truth-character and not from any person, be he a saint or even an incarnation;
and the truth-character demands that it be verifiable by all, irrespective of dogma,
creed, or race, and at all times.

Says the Shrimad-Bhagavat [11.9.28, 29]:

“The Divine One, having projected (evolved) with his own inherent power various
forms such as trees, reptiles, cattle, birds, insects and fish, was dissatisfied at
heart with all these; He then projected the human form endowed with the
capacity to realize Brahman (the universal divine Self of all), and became
extremely pleased.”

“Having obtained, at the end of many births, this human form which is difficult to
obtain, and, though perishable, is capable of conferring on man, in this very life,
the highest spiritual freedom, which is his highest excellence. Sensual delights
can be had in all other bodies; (hence the human body need not be dedicated to
them).”

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The Upanishads affirm that human being has the capacity to seek knowledge
and with consistent efforts he can acquire worldly knowledge and also attain
spiritual knowledge.

In the Upanishads and the Gita, spiritual realization and life fulfillment are
conveyed in firm language as one profound experience to be attained here and
now, in this very world, in this very body.

The Katha Upanishad [1.3.12] says:

“This Atman, (being) hidden in all beings, is not manifest (to all). But (It) can be
realized by all who are accustomed to inquire into subtle truths by means of their
sharp and subtle reason.”

Our ancient Hindu religion and culture is more a way of life than a form of
thought. While it gives absolute liberty in the world of thought it enjoins a strict
code of practice. The theist and the atheist, the skeptic and the agnostic may all
be Hindus if they accept the Hindu system of culture and life. Hinduism insists
not on religious conformity but on a spiritual and ethical outlook in life.

If life is one, then there is one master science of life which recognizes the four
supreme ends of ‘Dharma’ or righteousness, ‘Artha’ or wealth, ‘Kama’ or artistic
and cultural life, and ‘Moksha’ or spiritual freedom. The Hindu code of practice
links up the realm of desires with the perspective of the eternal. It binds together
the Kingdoms of earth and heaven. This is what our ancestors called the
‘Sanatana Dharma’ or the Eternal Religion.

The Isha Upanishad [12; 14] says:

“In darkness are they who worship only the world, but in greater darkness are
those who worship the infinite alone. He who accepts both saves himself from
death by the knowledge of the former and attains immortality by the knowledge
of the later.”

While the pursuit of wealth and happiness is a legitimate human aspiration, they
should be gained in ways of righteousness (Dharma), if they are to lead
ultimately to the spiritual freedom of man (Moksha). Each one of these ends

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requires ethical discipline. Freedom can be obtained only through bonds of
discipline and surrender of personal inclination. To secure the freedom to acquire
and to enjoy we have to limit ourselves and bind our will in certain ways.

Upanishads contain the elements of a genuine philosophical idealism, insisting


on the relative reality of the world, the oneness and wholeness of spirit, and the
need for an ethical and religious life.

The Bhagavad-Gita [6.5; 6] says:

“Raise yourself by yourself; don’t let yourself down, for you alone are your own
friend, you alone are your own enemy.”

“One becomes one’s own friend when one has conquered oneself; but to the
unconquered self, he or she is inimical, (and becomes) like (an external) enemy.”

When you discipline this sensory system, this psychic system, you develop great
character-strength; then you become your own friend. But, when you leave the
mind and sensory energies to themselves and you don’t discipline them, you
don’t train them, then you become your own enemy.

(To be continued)

Satyendra Nath Dwivedi

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