Purity and divinity lie at the heart of every religion, says Rajyogi Brahmakumar Nikunj ji

It’s a known fact that religion is deeply rooted in us and from time immemorial it has been a dominating factor in the way we think and behave. In its earliest stage, every religion had an inner strength of morals and spirituality, its followers have more genuine devotion, sincerity, simplicity and renounce creature comforts. They have the inner power to face heavy odds without giving up their principles and values. But with the passage of time and increase in the number of followers, the community passes through some tests and begins to give up morals and principles for some mundane considerations. As a result, their inner strength of tyaag, tapasya and seva weaken a bit. So, from its earliest stage that was spiritually powerful, practiced meditation and where spiritual experiences were the backbone, it now down to the next stage. During the last 2,500 years or so this has been happening with every religion as we know these today,

So, the utmost degeneration of moral and spiritual values, which is quite visible today, is because all religions, without a single exception, are now at the end of their Iron Age. Every religion has become more a faith today than the practice of meditation, self-abnegation and purity of mind, word and deed. It is more a set of rituals and less a practise of withdrawal from the sense-organs and body. As a result, the followers or the disciples lose the power of self-control, mental concentration, inner silence and tolerance. They have also very little power to obey faithfully the commandments of their founders and to maintain the purity of mind, speech and action. Again and again, they wish and resolve that they will give up anger, hatred, ego and more only to fail as they are defeated by maya or satanic forces. They come to believe that, as long as their spirit is in human flesh, it will be subject to temptations. They think that only the merciful or the founder of their respective religion can, by His grace, extricate them out from the wired web of maya.

Reflecting deeply on this will lead us to the conclusion that though the Almighty, or whosoever else, will guide us and help us, we, on our part also, will have to make sincere efforts so that we determine our future as distinguished from others. This would also lead us to feel the great joy of our achievement in our own efforts. The effort will have to be for spiritual empowerment because it is our moral and spiritual weakness, as has been explained earlier, that has resulted in our present predicament. If we were to put it briefly, spiritual power comes from –— and in the form of main achievements — purity and divine virtues, spiritual meditation based on soul-consciousness, tyaag -vairaga, unconditional service (sevã), good wishes for all and surrender of self to Supreme and leading a life as His trustee.

Purity and divinity are the essences of spirituality, as they enable the soul to stabilise its original nature and stature. Purity comes when one realises fully the consequences of sinful actions and tendencies such as anger, hatred, arrogance, observes self-restraint and inculcates divine qualities as opposed to vice, avoids bad company, books or visual material and eating satvic food.

Spiritual meditation gives one the experience of withdrawal from the body, peace and bliss and naturally makes the foundations and the edifice of purity and divine qualities strong. It is through meditation that one's spiritual battery is charged and one gets guidance and help from Almighty. Meditation also builds the spirit of renunciation, dispassion while creating and sustaining an attitude of good wishes and service. Similarly, the spirit of service enables one to get the blessings of all. Now, to achieve all these, one has to make a little effort to understand the true knowledge, inculcate divine qualities and vicelessness while practising soul-consciousness and meditation, having good wishes for all and doing seva through the mind, speech and action. The rest will be done by the Merciful Almighty. Remember! It’s not as difficult as it sounds. Nor does it take long to experience the self and supreme if one sincerely practises what He has revealed and asked us to practise.