Six basic principles of spirituality

The importance of spiritual practice

Every living being strives to attain ultimate, lasting happiness. This happiness is also referred to as Bliss (Anand). Bliss cannot be acquired through education nor through the recreational gadgets and entertainment of today. To achieve Anand one has to undertake spiritual practice.

Six basic principles of spirituality:

How can we ensure rapid spiritual progress towards achieving Bliss?

Rapid spiritual progress can be achieved when we do spiritual practice according to the basic principles of Spirituality. Even though there are many different types of spiritual practice, whether our spiritual practice adheres to the basic principles of Spirituality is a true litmus test of its effectiveness. If not, we run the risk of putting in a lot of effort without seeing the results that match those efforts.

The six basic principles are

There are as many paths to God as there are people
Going from many to one
Progressing from gross (tangible) to subtle (intangible)
Undertaking spiritual practice as per the spiritual level or spiritual capacity
Doing spiritual practice relevant to the times
Offering to God as per your talent or capacity

3.4.1 There are as many paths to God as there are people

When undertaking spiritual practice it is important to bear in mind that each individual is different, so what works for one person may not work for another. When climbing a mountain each climber thinks that his way is the only way. But when he reaches the top of the mountain, he realises that there were an infinite number of ways that could have taken him to the top. Likewise there are as many paths to God as there are people.
If five patients were to go to a doctor and each was suffering from a different ailment, then giving all five the same medicine would not result in each of them being cured. So also each of us are different and hence the same spiritual practice cannot be recommended for all. In a spiritual context each of us is unique across the following parameters.

The composition of the 3 subtle basic components (Trigunas) i.e. whether one is sattvik, rajasik or tamasik by nature.
The five cosmic elements (earth, water, fire, air and ether)
The degree to which, different aspects of spiritual practice, have been completed in prior births.
The different accumulated give-and-take account, destiny and wilful action that each one has.
A person may also adopt a certain path depending on his temperament.

3.4.2 Going from many to one

The impact of our efforts is much more powerful when we concentrate our efforts on the one instead of the many.
Which is more effective?

Digging one well to access water which is 10 meters deep or digging 10 wells of 1 meter each?
Accruing frequent flyer miles from various reward programs or sticking to just one?

The following examples show how this principle works depending on the various generic paths to God.

Path of Action (Karmayoga): In the initial stage a seeker gives alms to several beggars. In the next stage he focuses his efforts on a single cause such as a donation to a school or a hospital.

Path of Knowledge (Dnyanyoga): After studying various spiritual texts from new age philosophy to religious works, a seeker finally turns to a single text that has the highest percentage of spiritual truth in it.

Path of Devotion (Bhaktiyoga): A seeker progresses from the worship of several deities to that of one, goes to one place of pilgrimage rather than many and reads one book of holy verses rather than many.

Path of Chanting the Name of God (Namasankirtanyoga): Here the seeker chants the Name of only one deity instead of many.

Path of Guru's Grace (Gurukrupayoga): After visiting several Saints, a seeker finally visits only one Guru. Irrespective of the path of Spirituality one follows, spiritual progress does not really occur beyond a certain level without the grace of a Guru.

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3.4.3 Progressing from gross (tangible) to subtle (intangible)

This principle states that we need to improve upon our spiritual practice by going from just physical actions to a practice at a more subtle level.
A subtle spiritual practice is more powerful than a gross one. Take for example, a situation where two people shake hands in friendship, while in reality they may not like each other. The physical display of friendship is merely a façade. On the other hand, two people may feel genuine goodwill towards each other, even though there may be no physical contact.
Likewise, when it comes to practicing Spirituality, simply going through the motions of external ritualistic worship (gross level), with no devotion, needs to be replaced by having real inner devotion for God or intense desire for spiritual growth (subtle level).

3.4.4 Undertaking spiritual practice as per the spiritual level or spiritual capacity

We must check that the spiritual practice we choose is as per our spiritual capacity or spiritual level. A student who has passed grade 3 will not be able to sit for the grade 4 exams, if he has been continually studying only the grade 3 syllabus.
So spiritual seekers too should not get stuck at one level of spiritual practice and should try to improve their capacity to do spiritual practice.
Let us go through the various stages of development from the more gross forms of worship to the more subtle forms as per the level of the seeker:
At an initial level, we feel that we can make contact with the divine, only by going to a place of worship and through praying to a statue of God or a divine being.
Then we feel a connection with the divine, not just through rituals, but through reading spiritual books whilst sitting in the place of worship.
We then feel that even words are too gross and just experiencing the vibrations in a church or temple are enough to spiritually nourish a person.
After that we do not need to even go to a place of worship but can experience God in the beauty of Nature, high up in the mountains, at a serene lake, etc.
At an even higher level, we do not need nature anymore but can experience God even in daily living.
Even if we are in an unpleasant place such as a filthy slum or in the middle of a war zone, we can perceive the comforting blanket of God's presence and can worship Him there in the quiet presence of our hearts.

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3.4.5 Doing spiritual practice relevant to the times

There is an appropriate time for all things in life to happen. If the right thing happens at the wrong time then the desired result is not achieved. For example, if seeds are sown in the dry months instead of the rainy season, they do not take root no matter how fertile the land is. Similarly, certain spiritual practices are most conducive according to the time or era.

Satyayuga: This was a very pure era when the average spiritual level of a person was 70% (this is the level of a Saint). These people were so pure spiritually that the Path of Knowledge was best suited to them as they had the potential to spontaneously understand the implied meanings of all the spiritual scriptures.

Tretayuga: This was the era when the spiritual level of the average person dropped to 55% and so they lost their potential to follow the Path of Knowledge. But they were spiritually capable enough to undertake penance (the kind that allowed a seeker stand on one foot for 12 years) and meditation (the kind that made a seeker meditate long enough for an ant hill to grow all over him).

Dwaparyuga: In this era, there was a further decline in the average spiritual level to 35%. People lost their potential for rigorous penance and sustained meditation. Thus it was divinely ordained that they would be able to make progress through ritualistic worship. These rituals and sacrificial fires (yadnyas) were very time consuming and laborious as they had to be done after searching for the right ingredients. Along with this there were numerous steps that had to be followed to the last detail. But in this era people were religious-minded enough to spend the time, effort and money to do these rituals.

Kaliyuga: This is translated as the ‘Era of strife’ and is the current period. The average person’s spiritual level has dropped to only 20%. Our capacity to do any of the above spiritual practices has greatly reduced. But considering the turbulent times we live in and the extent of the spiritual pollution we experience – God has made a simple provision for us to still grow spiritually. All He wants us to do as spiritual practice is repeat His Name.

3.4.6 Offering to God as per your talent or capacity

All of us have some kind of resources at our disposal. These have been given to us by God. A basic principle in spiritual practice is that we use these same resources to serve Him as part of our spiritual practice and grow spiritually. The resources we have fall broadly into four categories:

Our body
Our wealth and worldly connections
Our mind and intellect
Our sixth sense

Let’s look at these four aspects in a little more detail:

1. Our body

Serving by our body means using our body to serve God. For example:

Cleaning a venue and getting it ready for a lecture on Spirituality
Driving seekers to the venue
Putting up posters to advertise a lecture on Spirituality

2. Our wealth and worldly connections

An example of serving God by offering our wealth and worldly connections respectively would be:

Paying for the venue where a spiritual discourse is to be conducted
Arranging for a lecture on Spirituality at an institute with which one is associated

3. Our mind and intellect

Using our mind and intellect is about using our creative and intellectual processes to serve God. Examples of this would include:

Using our intellect to study Spirituality, to put it into practice and then tell others about it
Using our writing skills to spread Spirituality by writing articles on Spirituality
Helping in the maintaining of records and administration of an event

4. Our sixth sense

Some of us have been gifted with an activated sixth sense from an early age. This is due to spiritual practice from either a previous birth or from this birth. The onus is on us to use it only to facilitate spiritual growth in ourselves and others. The use of our sixth sense needs to be under the guidance of a Spiritual Master.

In summary, the following points can be kept in mind:

By consistently offering what we have, to serve God as part of our spiritual practice, we grow spiritually.
Even if one does not have wealth or a high intellect he can still offer his body in service to God and thereby grow spiritually.
The four types of offerings mentioned above are not mutually exclusive. If a person has a good intellect and a strong understanding of Spirituality he may be inclined just to offer his intellect. However the principle is about ‘offering all what one has’. As the person has a body and also may have some wealth, he should offer that along with his intellect.
Out of all offerings, the offering of the mind and intellect is the most superior as through that medium one can help others understand and practice Spirituality.

Source: Courtesy of Spiritual Science Research Foundation

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